Lumos Invictus: Vengeance of the Emerald Prince
by BladedDragon
Summary: After narrowly escaping the wrath of Duriel in Baal and Diablo's wake, Chyemme and Piricus find themselves inescapably locked into the fate of the three. Now they venture to Kurast, where nothing is the same and everything they know is about to change.
1. Chapter 1

AN: Thanks again guys for all the reviews, emails, and fan art. Your support gives me motivation like you wouldn't believe, and I'm really touched that everyone enjoyed Sands of Ages as much as you did. Thanks again to everyone for reading. Enjoy.

Disclaimer: I do not own Diablo or Diablo 2, all credit and copyrights are due to Blizzard Entertainment. I'm just messing around in their world for fun.

Into the east

Chyemme

It was a somber morning. When dawn's pale light swept through the windows of Ryelass' house, it seemed to carry with it a dark grey aura. It was one of foreboding, and of dread. So much had happened last night. Talk about a disaster . . . I took only a small consolation in the fact that within the next few hours, I would be boarding a ship and leaving Lut Gholeign. I was wise enough to know that even though I left the location physically, the dramatic turn of events and the consequences were going to follow me well beyond the borders of this land. That was painfully obvious when I looked at Laurella, whom above all else seemed to have been hit the hardest with emotional recoil.

She glared at me spitefully for a moment, before focusing on packing arrows into her quiver with much more force than was necessary. I could feel the angered vibe brewing over her entire body and it wasn't long before she broke the iron head off of one of the arrows in an accidental rage. The blade sliced the top of her index finger and she hissed as a thin layer of her blood appeared on the surface of her skin.

"Are you-?" I started to ask in concern.

"Fine," she growled flatly. "It's none of your concern anyway," she continued venomously, and thereafter fell silent, though she continued to give me a dangerous leer.

I sighed heavily. For all my attempts at reconciliation with her last night after Maria's shocking disappearance, Laurella refused to listen to anything I had to say and to be blunt, had been quite hostile towards me. I decided to try one last time, seeing as we were very shortly going to be leaving here and like Piricus had told me on the way to Lut Gholein weeks ago, you never knew something was going to happen. I needed her to understand and cooperate with me should things go south.

"Laurella, listen to me," I started, taking on a more firm tone of voice.

"I don't want to hear it, Chyemme," Laurella snapped. "I'm not going to listen to you lie about what happened just because you feel bad for poor, little stupid Laurella," she hissed with animosity. "Did you think that I wouldn't figure it out? Oh wait—don't answer that. I'm just a silly little girl, aren't I?" she said furiously. "How would I know there's a nose on the end of my face?"

"Laurella, you know that's not tr—" I tried, swiftly beginning to lose patience with her juvenile accusations that were completely off target. I'd been hearing this more or less all night and hadn't even had a chance to defend myself. At first I had just listened to her ranting, thinking that she just needed to blow off steam, but after a while, it had become clear that these crazy theories of hers were what she actually believed.

"—Yeah, like I believe that. And oh, and not to mention did you think that I wouldn't care?" she continued, with her tone growing increasingly louder. "For him to just toy with my heart like that and you not having the decency to say something? I figured you for a better person, but I was obviously wrong," she spat hatefully.

"Stop," I said immediately, feeling my own temper flare. "Laurella you have no idea what's going on because you won't listen to a wo—" I started defensively.

"—listen to you. I don't know anything? You sound just like Piricus and you're just as arrogant. If it's not true then why are you getting so worked up over it?" she snarled. "Yeah, you—" she started with malice.

"Why don't you hear her out instead of taking her head off for something she had no control over?" Vendra interjected irritably from where she packed her things by the doorway, "You keep saying you're an adult, same as us, try acting like one. Right now the only thing I've heard from you all night is complaining with a clueless attitude," Vendra continued in aggravation, coming to my defense. After the party last night and the assassin fiasco, we all came to the conclusion it was best that they should stay with us in case something else were to happen.

Like me, Vendra had spent the whole night listening to Laurella's bitterness. In fact, she'd probably gotten an earful that I didn't, seeing as she had also tried to calm her down after I failed last night. I wasn't quite sure what was going to happen when I told Vendra all about the events of last night when we had returned to Ryelass'. She hadn't been that surprised to learn about Maria's betrayal, but she'd been genuinely surprised by Ryelass' confession. But Vendra already knew that my affections were elsewhere. She'd seen them in the arcane sanctuary. I knew I could trust her to back me up in the truth of things.

"Of course, you'd take her side," Laurella said bitterly. "What, you two disappear for a few days and suddenly become best friends and all," she continued sourly.

Vendra actually stood up and turned to face her with her own ill temper. "You're really getting on my nerves right now," she said bluntly, true to her own nature. "I'm on the side of reason, and right now you're ignoring it," Vendra snapped briskly. "Acting like an adult would mean you listen to both sides of things, even if you don't like what's being said, which you clearly aren't. More than that, it's putting the blame where it actually belongs. All night long you've been bitching to me about Chyemme, when you've never said a word about Ryelass. Wake up and smell the roses, he's the one who hurt you," Vendra said impatiently. "This was his decision alone and Chyemme doesn't return his feelings. If you had an ounce of belief in her character, or even let her speak, you'd already know that. And here's another life lesson: Rejection happens and it hurts. You can deal with it one of two ways. You can do what you're doing and act like a petulant little brat, or you can be a big girl and accept it gracefully," Vendra added like a parent lecturing an angry child.

"I'd like to see your reaction if Sovellis suddenly dropped you on your ass too, after everything you've been through. What would you do if he just suddenly up and left you for someone he thinks is better than you?" she retorted sorely.

"He never said that about you or me!" I said, exasperated.

"Not aloud," Laurella added with her lip curling.

I had had enough. "What you did was a complete invasion of privacy! I don't care if you were upset. You don't have any respect for him, let alone yourself and that's what this comes down to," I said with anger.

Laurella's fists balled at her sides. "You were listening all along. I knew it. Liar," she snapped with a fiery ill-will.

"What's this?" Vendra asked slowly, frowning.

"She read Ryelass' mind with her inner sight when he upset her last night. She used his emotional turmoil against him, knowing that it would be the strongest thing on his mind. She was able to tap into it without a problem," I said simply with a scowl of my own forming.

"I'm sure you've done it too at some point, knowing how you are," Laurella shot back.

I sighed heavily. "Actually, no I haven't," I said pointedly. "Not ever."

"I wasn't talking about you," she hissed at me, looking directly at Vendra.

Vendra rolled her eyes. "Oh, so you're going to round on me now too? Let me tell you something, even though I'm connected to Sovellis, I've never, EVER done something like that to him. We respect each other and that means even when he does something I don't like or vice versa, we give each other space and what's more, guess what, being in love with someone also means you forgive them when they hurt you," Vendra replied bluntly.

"And you think you know how the world works," Laurella said darkly. "You probably grew up in some sheltered little mage convent and never had anything bad happen to you before you came to the West March," she added with distain.

"For your information—" Vendra growled in rage. I saw small tendrils of smoke begin to rise from Vendra's colored fists and knew she was dangerously close to casting magic I'm sure she wasn't aware of. My head immediately turned back to the murder the assassins committed last night for less reason than this.

"Vendra, calm down," I said urgently, grabbing her wrist.

She looked down and noticed her own smoking flesh with an odd expression. She closed her eyes and rolled her shoulders back, immediately stilling her magical powers. "Okay. I've had enough of this bullshit," Vendra snapped. "I'll see you downstairs," she said with tension as she exited the room swiftly.

Laurella glowered at me nastily before walking out the door a few moments afterwards, leaving me alone in the room in silence. I closed my own eyes and rubbed my temple which was beginning to throb. I said a momentary prayer that things would return to normal soon, but somehow I seriously believed that prayer would be in vain.

I grabbed my spear that lay against the wall next to the open window and briefly stared down into the bustling street below. There was so much ignorance here. A murder was committed in cold blood last night and none of them noticed or cared. I walked towards the doorway and paused to look at myself in the standing mirror on Yvette's wall as I passed by. I had tied my hair back into its original ponytail, and secured it with my headband. I had replaced my evening gown from last night with my original armor, and it was a welcomed relief. My weapons were sharpened and stowed in their proper carrying places on my gear and every muscle of my body was rippling with tension. My eyes had bags starting to form under them, not a good way to begin the day. I was still weary from last night, both in body and mind.

The vibrantly colored feathers of Ahmad's necklace peaked out from beneath my armor in the dusty sunlight, and I sighed again. Duty calls. I would have to rest later, right now we needed to up and leave.

I walked down to the atrium where all the rest of the group had gathered. All of us looked exhausted; there wasn't one speck of relief or even excitement as I looked around. I'd have to say out of all of us, Cloudyous looked the least affected. He had returned to his normal fur and linen armor and Belthem and Sky lingered restlessly by his left side. Bibo was perched on his right shoulder and even Gaia was present in the house in the hallway behind him. Her enormous bear body was packed between the stucco walls of the narrow atrium, but she didn't seem to mind. I watched the grizzly carefully, noting that she was doing her best to maintain a three inch space between her body and Cloudyous' despite the confines of the building.

All four animals hadn't left his side last night since the second he returned to Ryelass'. Sky and Belthem had even come running to him up a side street before he had even gotten off the steps of the palace. Cloudyous had seemed to know what happened before I told him; I guess his wolves had told him first. He said that they had come to protect him, and I didn't need to ask from what. Cloudyous was a mage too when it came down to it, and that put him equally among the threatened.

Sovellis was off talking to Vendra in a corner. They weren't speaking aloud, but the troubled glance on his face and the irritated one on hers said everything. I knew she was mentally filling him in on the fight upstairs if he didn't already know. Alminus was standing next to Ryelass, whom was trying to console a teary Yvette. Ryelass had his back turned to Laurella, and I clearly understood he wasn't ready to face her yet. Alminus caught my eyes and we shared an exhausted expression between us. I questioned him with my eyes to Laurella and then to Ryelass. He sighed wearily and then shrugged his massive shoulders. Apparently, he was just as confused.

Worst of all, though not surprising to me, was Scorpious. My paladin friend was dressed solidly in his silver platemail that had the appearance of being recently polished. His blessed sword was neatly on his belt and his holy targe was hung steadily onto his back. Everything about him physically appeared steady, like it had since the first moment I met him. But looks were so deceiving. On the inside, I knew demon ice was breaking him apart. I was immensely saddened when I looked into his eyes. Ice wasn't the only thing destroying him. I thought that heartbreak might kill him first.

The rueful expression in his soft eyes made me think of the two people missing from our original group. Maria. . . What in hell had happened? It just didn't make sense. She was so collected and in her own way, almost as righteous as Scorpious. Was rejection really the cause of this sudden personality switch? I cringed when I thought about Laurella's reaction. I sincerely hoped that she wouldn't become murderous in that same manner.

Murderous . . . the look in Piricus' eyes had been murderous. He wasn't present with this group either, though no one, not even me, expected him to be. I had no idea what had even happened to him last night, and I seriously doubted he had gone back to the inn. I kicked myself inwardly. I should have chased after him. I should have made sure that nothing else happened, but in my state of shock, I hadn't been thinking straight. I sincerely regretted it and that was at the forefront of my mind last night when we had returned here. I couldn't get him off my mind and needless to say between him and Laurella, I didn't really sleep last night.

"Mom, mom," Ryelass soothed, "It will be alright. I promise," he said gently. "I will write as often as I can, but I have to go now," he explained gingerly as he tried desperately to pull away from his crying mother.

"I know, it's just so hard," Yvette said miserably, "I was just getting used to having you home again."

"And someday I will be," Ryelass promised, as he embraced her lovingly one last time.

"Well, you be careful young man," she said quietly. "And send word often," she hiccupped as she returned his embrace. "All of you," she added sweetly and seized Alminus in a motherly fuss when she had let go of Ryelass.

Alminus smiled softly and patted her on the back with great care. "There, there Yvie. It'll be alrigh' now. Jus' ya wait n' see. We'll prolly be back 'fore ya know it," he said fondly.

"I hope so," she said sincerely, drying her eyes as someone handed her a handkerchief. I looked over to see the elderly sage, Deckard Cain.

"Thanks," Yvette said as she blew her nose as well, attempting to quell her motherly depression. "You'll take good care of them, won't you?" she asked the elder, turning to him.

"The best, dear Yvette. Do not be sad, my dear. Take heart in what Alminus has said. I have faith that you'll all be together again soon," elder Cain said optimistically.

"That I will," she said, seeming to perk up slightly. "Fair winds and good sails to all of you. I'm pleased to have met you," she said as she made the rounds to hug all of us in turn. I returned Yvette's embrace with a slight cringe when I realized that Ryelass was watching me. When she let go I swiftly turned away, and made to scratch Belthem's ears as a distraction, particularly because Yvette made to hug Laurella next and I didn't want to see her face.

The grey wolf was slightly jumpy when I made to touch him and by the time he realized it was me, I'd almost lost a few fingers. I recoiled hastily, cursing myself inwardly. After all, Belthem wasn't a tame yard dog. I thought I'd done something wrong and apologized outwardly in reflex, even though I knew he probably wouldn't understand me.

"Sorry," I said absently, not caring how absurd it must have looked for me to be speaking with a wolf.

Belthem eyed me carefully for a moment, then sat down and whined. He opened his mouth and yawned with a high pitched sound.

"It's not you," Cloudyous answered for him. "You'll have to excuse all of them. They're on edge and they're really focused on protecting me," he added apologetically.

"I figured that," I said stupidly. "After the fact. I also thought he might be angry for what I did to his tail," I added with a grimace as I eyed the healing nub.

Cloudyous ruffled the hair of Belthem's head affectionately, then shook his head. "No, he's not angry. He realized you saved his life and he's very grateful. He wants you to know he's sorry for trying to bite you just now, like I said, they're just all a little distracted," he repeated kindly.

"They feel remorse?" Sovellis asked with interest as he watched the scene play out.

Cloudyous nodded. "Indeed. Probably not the same was humans do, but believe it or not animals do have emotions."

"What you mean?" Sovellis futhered. "What difference?"

"Well, the best way I can explain it is that just now Belthem wasn't "sorry" that he hurt Chyemme's feelings when he tried to bite her, he was "remorseful" that he acted aggressively towards a member of his pack on accident. It wasn't a human version of sadness, but there was regret there just the same," Cloudyous explained.

"Well, it's a good thing somebody can translate for them, because I wouldn't have gotten any of that out of an attempted bite," Vendra said sarcastically.

"True enough," Ryelass said as he finished his farewell to his mother. "Let's get going."  
"Where are we going?" Laurella asked Deckard Cain, instead of asking Ryelass.

"Lord Jerhyn wants to speak with you at the docks and from there, I believe we will be boarding a ship," he answered simply.

"Then let's not keep him waiting," she answered bluntly and took the lead out the door.

Our group left for the dockside with Yvette waving goodbye from her doorstep. We moved quickly through the crowd with Ryelass escorting Elder Cain, whom seemed to know the way. The city noise seemed like a buzz, and if I hadn't been so tense, it would have dulled my senses as we made our way through town. We passed the tavern, and within its open frame I could see Atma, hard at work serving a large man a plate of some type of food. She looked up for a moment to see our procession and waved slightly, before turning to scold a small boy that ran out from behind the counter too fast, carrying a goblet of wine. I saw a small smile on her face as she helped to clean up the mess the child made, before it disappeared back into an expression of business. At the very least, there was one small measure of hope we had kindled here.

I gave the bathhouse an ill-begotten look as we walked by, making Vendra laugh when she noticed it. Sovellis laughed too, a sign she'd said something to him psychically. The mass of brightly colored townspeople began to thin out the further east we went until the manner of people had been replaced solidly by a much more rugged lot. Many of these men had muscles that held a chance at comparison with Alminus and several had rough-looking scars and stubby facial hair. Their clothing wasn't bright with the dyes of Lut Gholeign, instead it was simple, faded linen mostly in brown hues. I could distinctly smell the salt on them and see the sun on their skin, though it was a different shade from the native desert tan.

These men were sailors and they eyed our group strangely as we passed by. Most seemed to be hard at work carrying large barrels and crates up and down a wooden walkway we had now stepped onto, though I couldn't see the ocean yet for all the buildings. I tuned my ears, trying to listen past the hustle and bustle of human activity for sounds of the sea. It wasn't long before I started to hear them. It made my heart sink slightly. The last time I had been on a ship and crossed a sea, Piricus had been with me. I desperately wanted to find him, but I knew that I couldn't leave the group and we had no time to waste on things like a sentimental goodbye.

We rounded a corner where the walkway became a pier and as we passed a high stack of crates, I received my first view of the eastern seas. There were several piers scattered over this walkway over about a two mile span and it seemed to me like every inch of harbor contained a moored ship of some type or other, with barely enough water between them to move. My guess was that Lord Jerhyn had to have sealed the ports a while ago for this many vessels to have accumulated.

The water itself was a murky emerald green, you could barely see anything beneath the water's waving surface. The water was nearly the same color as his eyes. I blinked and shook my head when I started to notice an image of his face in the moving water. Did I really care for him that much? Was I also that desperate? To hallucinate?

"Keep your eyes above water, amazon. Watch where you're walking so it's not into me, like you always do," an icy voice said with barely no emotion.

"Well, well, look who it is," Vendra said with distain in her voice.

I instantly brought my head back to forward and found that the image in the water wasn't an illusion at all; Piricus was standing in front of us, and in front of him was an odd assortment of people. Fara the paladin was standing next to Adria the Witch, and next to her was Lord Jerhyn guarded by Rasheed and a few others. To Rasheed's right was a man I'd never seen before; he was dressed in a simple black outfit with loose pants secured in place by a simple leather belt and worn, leather boots. His shirt was black and sleeveless, though he did have a red band of fabric across his chest with the imperial seal. He wore a turban, not unlike Jerhyn and carried a saber with a distinct curve in a decorated scabbard.

Lord Jerhyn's face brightened when he saw us. "Ah, the rest have arrived, but I could have sworn, wasn't there one more?" he asked, ignorantly.

I heard a nasty snarl escape Piricus' lips, and I quickly ended that conversation. "She's not coming with us. Everyone that's going is here," I informed swiftly.

Jerhyn seemed surprised, but then nodded. At least he knew better than to ask. "Very well, then. Heroes, I cannot thank you enough for all you have done for me and my beloved city. Your service to us is nothing short of chivalrous, and I will never be able to fully repay you. It has come to my knowledge what your current quest entails," he started, slightly more serious with a look at Adria, "And therefore I understand that I shouldn't keep you here. I have arranged passage for all of you on one of my fastest ships, and Captain Meshif has graciously obliged to take you to Kurast immediately. May fortune smile upon you always, and know that all of you will always be welcome in Lut Gholeign," he said with a bow to all of us.

All of us bowed as well, save Piricus, whom managed for the sake of manners, a slight nod.

"Rasheed, let us return now," Jerhyn said politely as the Captain nodded.

Before he left, Rasheed turned to us as well. "Before you leave, Lady amazon," he said, pulling a paper from his waist pouch, "I told Greiz of what happened to your friend, Ahmad. He suggests that you go see his friend, Asheara, upon your arrival in Kurast. That has her last known information," he said respectfully, and bowed once more before he took his leave.

"Doesn't have a clue what just happened, does he?" Laurella said sarcastically as she watched the emperor leave.

"Don' look li' it," Alminus agreed with a strong nod.

"Out of the way, paladin filth," Piricus hissed nastily as he made to edge around Fara whom was standing by the causeway to board our ship, maintaining a large distance between them.

"Have more respect for a lady," Adria reprimanded. She eyed him for a moment, then a grim look came to her face. "I see," she said simply, leaving the rest of us as confused as ever.

Piricus cast her a leery glance, then answered her just a briskly. "I'm through with you as well, gypsy conjurer. I don't ever want to look upon your face again," he snapped rudely and to my surprise, he actually elbowed Fara harshly as he shoved past her onto the plank of the ship. He disappeared within seconds without another word.

To my surprise, Fara made no move or noise of retaliation. "I see what you mean, my brother," she said simply as she watched Piricus fade from view.

Scorpious walked forward apologetically. "My lady, I'll apologize for him," he said humbly.

"Why would you? For him that was actually as close to polite as he'd ever get for a paladin," Ryelass said snidely.

"That's probably true," Scorpious said with a sigh, "but it's the principle of the thing. My apologies," Scorpious said to her politely.

"Why are you here?" Laurella asked her indifferently.

"I needed to deliver these two scrolls to brother Scorpious," she said simply. "One is for the elder, you know of what I speak, and the other is from a Commander Kyeman of the new order of Zakarum. It arrived here just an hour ago actually," she said respectfully and handed them both to him.

"I will delay you no longer. Farewell, be safe and may God watch over you every step of the way," she said to us stoutly and she and Scorpious embraced before she saluted him and quickly left as well.

"That leaves you, Lady Adria," Cloudyous said respectfully.

The witch nodded. "It seems you'll have quite the literature for your trip, Chyemme. I have a letter for you from the amazon isles," she said simply. "That, and I wanted to see you all off," she added.

_There is also box in your cabin, Chyemme. It's for your friend, Laurella, but she's not to open it until the vanquishing of the stone of red, do you understand?_ Adria said to me telepathically.

_Not really,_ I replied ethereally. _And we're not exactly on the greatest of terms now anyway,_ I added bitterly.

_It's simple. Don't open the box. Not you or her, until the time comes. You'll know when that is_, she clarified as she handed me the letter bearing the royal crest of Queen Chelsea.

I reached for the letter, and the ocean breeze caught in the folds. The paper fluttered in her grip and in my attempt to take it I ended up accidently brushing Adria's hand with my own. The moment I touched her, my inner sight activated. This vision was slightly different from the rest I had been experiencing since I was here. This time, I only heard voices, as if it were a recording of some script. I didn't see anything with my eyes.

"What have you got for us, Adria?" Came a female voice that was somehow familiar. I listened intently, having an odd feeling I knew who it belonged to, even though I'd only heard it once before.

"That will depend on what you need. From the looks of things, you need more help than I can give you," Adria responded simply.

"Probably so," came a male voice I didn't recognize. "But please try. You, alone, are the only one left here that still has the power to help."

"I know what you're after. You'll never succeed. Not with a hundred Horadrim and the archangel himself could this be done, let alone the three of you," Adria said dubiously.

"Funny you should mention him, considering he was the one to do it in the first place. Have a little more faith in us, Adria," came the male voice again.

"Please, great witch. We have to try, or all is lost anyway," came another, slightly accented male voice.

"Cyrim is right. If we don't do something soon, he'll be powerful enough to come topside," came the female voice. "We need to be proactive, there is still a chance that we will hold the upper hand if we strike first and bring the fight to him," she added.

"You know what must happen then," Adria said, a tone sounding very much like regret in her voice.

"We must fight him in the plain which he is grounded in, if we are to seal him away again completely. We have to enter hell itself, but that won't be the hard part," the female voice said grimly, "a tear into that dimension has already opened."

"I'll tell you what is a problem," the voice of the man named Cyrim answered. "The rift has opened on the edge of town and it's going to consume this entire place if we don't close it," he added.

"I always thought this place was going to hell in a hand basket anyway," came a morbid laugh from the first man. "I guess now it's true."

"This is not a laughing matter," Adria reprimanded. "And that joke was in especially poor taste, coming from you."

"I'm trying to lighten the mood," came the first male voice gently. "You've never seen this place before Leoric, have you Adria?"

"I have," she answered stiffly. "Once before."

"Then you know why I said what I just said," the first responded simply.

"All ill-mannered humor aside," Adria said gravely, "the only way to close that rift is from within, and that won't happen until the Lord of Terror is vanquished," Adria warned.

"So the problem becomes how we're going to seal it without being trapped ourselves," came the sharp assessment of the female voice.

"Astute as ever, Celeste," Adria said simply. "And for this problem, I have no solution. The gates between dimensions, be they heaven, hell, or Sanctuary, are sealed by the worldstone, and none but the creators have the power to alter that. My attempts to restore you to Sanctuary across the barrier from the nether once it has closed would be like me trying to move Mt. Arreat to the amazon isles physically using only my bare hands. It would be impossible," she informed gravely.

"What do you think, Marcus? You always seem to be able to find a way around the problems I notice," Celeste, the Blood Raven asked intently.

Marcus . . . .now it struck me. I was hearing Laurella's sister and Ryelass' brother in this auditory vision.

"I'm sure when I see it, I'll think of something. Maybe there's something on that damned bastard's bookshelves that will help us. He's only been communing with the monster since the start of this disaster. Priest of Zakarum my ass," Marcus snarled. "I never trusted Lazarus from the moment I met him, and that was over twelve years ago. Mom thought he was the greatest thing since sliced bread, but I just always had the worst feeling about him," he growled.

"And it turns out for good reason," Cyrim said sarcastically. "Look at Celeste's shoulder."

I heard Blood Raven laugh, though it was entirely human this time. "Well, the conjurer may have gotten a piece of my shoulder, but I put his lights out permanently. One less piece on this demented chess board to worry about," she said stoutly.

"I never liked the idea of using you as his bait," Marcus said protectively.

"That's because you love me," Celeste said lightly, the closest thing to humor I'd heard from her. "I'm a big girl Marcus, I can fend for myself when I need to," she insisted.

"Speaking of injuries, Celeste, you should stay here, maybe go see Pepin," Marcus suggested stubbornly, though I could clearly hear the tenderness in his voice.

Celeste snorted. "To hell with that notion. Literally. If you two are going, so am I. I'll not suffer my love to enter hell and face terror alone."

"He wouldn't be alone," Cyrim said with heart.

"Well, you're both stuck with me. If we go out, we will go together. None of this "the woman will survive and live alone"," Celeste said strongly. "We will live or die together as it should be."

"I agree. What do you have to say, Marcus?" Cyrim asked in agreement.

"I think we're a family now. After everything we've seen down there I think it would be hard to live alone because we can't really relate to anyone up here. I don't think even my little brother could erase this ordeal from my mind and he could always lighten my mood no matter what," Marcus admitted sadly.

"You did the right thing," Celeste said gently. "He'd have followed you into hell, you know."

"And that's what scares me the most," Marcus said grimly. "I want mom and Ryelass never to know this evil," he said powerfully, causing a hurt in my own heart.

"Well, we're resolved never to let that happen. Live or die, we are bound together," Cyrim announced.

"I'm sure when he's old enough, he'll understand. If I live, he'll hear this tale from me, and if I die then I know he's in good hands and that I died trying to keep Sanctuary safe so he will never have to face the demonic," Marcus said softly after a few moments. "Adria, we're decided. Now what will you decide? Will you help us?" he continued, addressing the witch, whom had fallen silent.

"Why are you looking at him like that?" Celeste asked in confusion.

"What do you see, great witch?" Cyrim asked intently. My guess was she had been looking at him.

"There is someone close to your heart, a young boy as you remember him, but I sense this as a distant memory. You've been thinking of him often as of lately. What is his name, Cyrim?" Adria asked interestedly.

Cyrim paused before answering. His voice when he responded was concerned. "His name is Sovellis. He's my godson, why do you ask? What is it that you see?"

"The future is what it is. For good or ill I cannot say. Telling you could alter things beyond my mortal comprehension," she said gravely. "Besides, I only asked his name. What I saw could be someone else entirely," she added mysteriously.

"Fair enough," Cyrim said, though not without dread.

"What about your sister, Celeste?" Marcus asked gently.

"Laurella has been under my wing her entire life. My leaving was hard on both of us, but it is good for her in a way. Now she must stand on her own feet. She doesn't believe it, but I've always told her that I have a feeling that one day, she'll be an even greater warrior than me. That aside, as with Cyrim's godson and your brother, she is in good hands now and nothing, life or death, will change the fact that she is in my heart and I will love her until the end," Celeste vowed.

"They are safe," Adria said simply. "All of them, for the moment. Of that much I will say. I will help you as much as I am able, though I don't think it will do you much good in all honesty," Adria said simply. Moments passed in silence and although I couldn't see, I knew Adria was armoring them up.

"It is done," Adria announced. "I have given you my best."

"Thank you," Marcus said genuinely. "There is only one more matter than needs attendance."

"What's that?" Celeste asked, confused.

"Celeste, my love, I have next to nothing but my life, but all that I do have I would be honored to share with you forever. If we should survive this, will you marry me?" he asked lovingly.

"Of course," she said, though I could clearly tell she was crying. She laughed suddenly. "If you didn't ask me just now, I was going to ask you."

Cyrim laughed too. "Well, that was what I was expecting. For Celeste to take charge. You surprised me, Marcus."

"Okay. Fun's over," Marcus said with a snort at Cyrim's laughter. "Let's go."

"I love you, Marcus," Celeste said tenderly.

"I love you too," he vowed, before things fell into silence. I thought everything was over, until I heard Celeste's voice again. This time, she was screaming.

"NO! NO! MARCUS! CYRIM DO SOMETHING!" she screeched vehemently.

"I can't. It's already closed," Cyrim said in a heartbroken dismay.

"HOW COULD HE? MARCUS! HOW COULD YOU DO THIS TO ME? YOU PROMISED! YOU PROMISED WE'D FIGHT AND DIE TOGETHER! MARCUS!" she thundered in anguish. She continued to shout her misery for moments afterwards and then she began crying profusely. "Cyrim . . . Diablo . . ." she choked at last.

"He got him, Celeste. I know he did. It wouldn't have closed and Diablo would be here on the ground with us if he hadn't," Cyrim said quietly.

"But he . . .Diablo . . .he's . . he's . . ." she wailed in misery, unable to find the words 'Marcus is dead'.

"We owe him our lives. We would have died and so would have everything else in Sanctuary. I already miss him too. He was my best friend. But what he did was out of pure love. And I know that if there is one person that could have ended that monster, it was him. Diablo is gone, Celeste. Marcus saw to that. I know it's hard, but I know he wouldn't have wanted us to cry and he wouldn't want you to spend the rest of your life in mourning, Celeste," Cyrim said ruefully.

"I won't. I won't move on," she growled in pain. "Don't ask me to just toss him aside."

"I'm not asking you to forget him, but rather remember his sacrifice and what you have left. Come, we will leave this place together and go home; there's nothing left for us here but painful memories now. But first we will mark a grave for Marcus and say our goodbyes," Cyrim said softly.

"Cyrim, you're crying," Celeste sobbed.

"I loved him too, he was as much my brother as any blood bond I've ever had. He was my brother as you are my sister. Let's go Celeste. I will take you back to your sister and then I will go back to my wife, and then I must find my godson," Cyrim said in a grief-filled voice. "Marcus will rest well with Tyrael, of that I'm sure."

Celeste sniffled. "He'd better. If I ever find out otherwise, I'll go mad."

I blinked when the sounds died away. That one, sound memory answered a lot of questions, but still left many more. Adria was staring at me interestedly, and so was everyone else.

"How long does it take to get a paper from someone's hand?" Laurella asked with an impolite snort.

"A long time, when you're seeing the memories of others," Adria said simply, though aloud which surprised me.

"I'm sorry, it was accidental," I admitted truthfully.

Adria waved her hand dismissively. "It happens. Hurry now, all of you," she said vaguely. "Captain, I would plot a course through the far west quadrant below Mercury and above Venus. A violent storm is brewing to the direct east, and you don't want to be caught in that," she said matter-of-factly and promptly vanished on the spot. Though her physical form vanished, her mental voice remained in my mind.

_Now you understand my guilt on this matter. To see such a thing happen, and not be able to act is unbearable. I could do nothing, but you can. Chyemme, seek the wanderer, you and your friends. Find, him, and put an end to the Lord of Terror. Succeed where I have failed and perhaps there is yet chance for redemption. You might even end up saving someone you did not expect. Farewell, may we meet again in better times._ Her voice faded with that cryptic message, same as she always was in person.

"Hmm. Well, better not waste time," the man named Meshif said keenly as he surveyed the morning waters and sky above. "Terrance, Dan—" he called loudly to two people at the end of the docks, "help our guests load their belongings pronto, we need to set sail within the hour!" he ordered.

"I'd go ahead and board now," he said, turning to us. "My men will help you if you need to carry any extra belongings or provisions on board."

"What's the rush?" Vendra asked, eyeing the boat sarcastically.

Meshif shrugged. "Well, I don't see anything right now but I have a feeling in my bones that your friend was right. I think a major storm is coming soon."

"I hope not," Ryelass snorted. "That would be the last thing we need."

"Yeah," I said vaguely, examining the Amazonian letter in my hands. "Let's get out of here before something else happens."


	2. Chapter 2

AN: Hey guys, I've been doing a bit of editing on my previous works in review for this one and I've recently reviewed 's rating guidelines and realized that I'm in violation with their violence code. Therefore, to be safe, I'm going to be changing all the ratings to M due to the extreme gore that some of my chapters possess, especially the imagery within this one. Thanks for reading and reviewing!

The Brewing Waters

Piricus

The only thing on my mind lately was how truly careless I had been. I gazed out into the choppy waters of the eastern ocean, leaning over the port bow of the wooden deck. Careless, and a bit cocky, but Darius had been even more so. How blind were we, and also truly foolish, to assume that the assassins still had their damned code of honor? No. They were no better than the paladins. In fact, I had recently ranked them much worse. It had been the assassins that had started this whole nasty cycle of vengeance. They killed several of my brethren for no reason, why wouldn't they have killed one more?

I should have been expecting it, but truth be told, Darius' murder had caught me off guard and completely surprised. It was the first true thing to do so in a very long time. When you're around people for such a long time, you begin to know them, and then you begin to predict the ways they'll act. You think you've got them figured out, and then, you find out just how infinitely wrong your assumptions had been. I'd have thought that that damned bitch especially seemed like the type to back up her righteous bullshit and to be frank even further, she had let the sorceress slide on several monumental occasions. So in reality, I'd been about to consider her all talk and no action.

By the lowest circles of reincarnation, damn had I been wrong. Out of nowhere was exactly what had happened. He'd been walking about ten feet ahead of me; we'd been on our way back from that forsaken dance floor of fools. We'd decided ahead of time that he'd go first, just to keep up appearances. I'd had no time to move in any sort of intervention, they'd cornered us at a perfect time. In-between a narrow alley of buildings, and packed between an absurd amount of townspeople all leaving the idiot emperor's useless party.

There were only swirls of ebon mist, and it started just like before . . .

I could see three of the arrogant, murdering bastards in the clearing in front of me. One of the women was cleaning her sword, removing the dripping, blue-black lifeblood from the blade. The heart of the necromancer she'd just impaled was still throbbing upon the tip.

I watched with a pounding in my own heart as the life energy faded from the pumping muscle and passed away into nothingness. Rage poured through every fiber of my own tissues. There was no reason for this brutality, but then again, what reason ever existed that these people would listen to?

"Shadra, stop playing around," came an apathetic voice of one of the males next to her.

"What's it going to hurt, Tav`e? They're all dead. Look, I mean, I skewered that mage's heart and ripped it out like a core from a peach over two minutes ago, and it just now stopped beating! That's not natural. These necromancers, they're like demons," she said with a sort of demented relish.

"Demons are harder to dispose of, don't cast their pathetic lot with anything of worth. They're mages, and dark ones at that. They don't deserve any more awe than a common garden slug and definitely not any type of respect," said the third male over to the female's left.

"I didn't say I was reverent," the female retorted with a snort. "I just said it wasn't normal."

"Nothing about them is normal. Raising things that have passed on, it's demonic. Why does this surprise you?" the third male continued.

"I wasn't joking when I told you to stop playing around with that conjurer's heart," the first male continued icily. "Throw it out," he finished strongly.

"What's the rush Tav`e? You expect it to come back to life or something? Not even these sons of bitches have the ability to accomplish that," the second male said darkly.

"Don't question me, Brent. Just do as I say. If you'd seen as many of these human monsters as I have, and what they are truly capable of, Shadra would have chucked that thing the second she yanked it out," the first man reprimanded.

"When are the others coming back?" the second male asked intently, changing subjects.

"Soon. And when they do we need to move on. Lord Dazrik made our orders clear," the first said motionlessly.

"What exactly were those, Tav`e?" the second male asked. "You wouldn't tell any of us."

"And I still won't. You're here as support only and it makes no difference. This is a mission of utmost secrecy and only a handful of the upper ranks know," he replied shortly.

"If we were after information, why the hell did we kill them? The dead don't talk, or walk for that matter?" the second pressed.

I could tell the commander of this group was becoming irritated, but I listened soundlessly. I needed to know as much as I could so when I killed them, I could take their objectives back to Lord Rathma.

"Walking and talking might actually be possible, look at this," the female interjected as she removed the necromancer's heart from the blade with her hands. She sliced the dripping organ open with the tip of a dagger on her belt, and when opened a blue light became visible for an instant before it faded. "It still has spirit energy! I wonder if the rest of her has-?" she asked in a morbid curiosity as she started forward with her knife in hand. "Here Brent, hold that," she said nonchalantly and tossed the dissected heart at the second man, whom caught it more out of reflex than anything.

A swirl of black mist spun out from underneath a cluster of jungle ferns, becoming elongated before materializing into a solidly black-clad assassin. The leader turned to face the newcomer as several more black shadows warped into being, revealing more Viz-Jaq'Taar within.

"Hadran, what news?" the first asked impatiently.

"I think I've found the one. I found this in a cached archive about twenty miles from here, due east," said the new assassin, waving an old, weathered piece of cloth that obviously had suffered the severe jungle humidity almost too long to be of use. The water-logged decay had set in and there was an inky black fluid dripping off the side I couldn't see down off of the cloth's edges.

"Put that over fire, we need that symbol as intact as it can be," the lead ordered.

The assassin moved to obey and hastily set to drying the piece. "Look at this, Tav`e. You were right, this is the one," he added after a moment. "What are you doing, Shadra?" he continued, looking at the female whom was mutilating the corpse of one of my fellow necromancers.

"I want to see if she functioned like the rest of us. So far, I'm not convinced," the female responded.

"Yeah, you just want to mess up that body out of spite," said another female that had surfaced.

"Couldn't hurt to mess her up too bad, even they can't put her back together if she's in a thousand pieces," the second male said with revulsion as he looked at the bloody human heart he held in his hands.

The lead paid her no more attention; he stepped over to examine the paper. "Hmm. None of these," he mumbled inconclusively as he cast a furtive glance around at the butchery that was the corpses of my fellow Priests of Rathma.

"Sir," said another man, "I saw that on a woman, not three days past," he informed.

The commander looked sincerely interested. "A woman, you say? You're sure?"

"Yes," the assassin affirmed.

"Where is the body?" the leader asked, and I could almost feel the anticipation in his voice.

"Well, she . . ." he started, as I just took notice of a severe injury he was sporting over his right shoulder into his neck. There was a deep gouge there, and I could start to make out the beginnings of a gangrenous infection due to the discoloration.

"Are you telling me she escaped? Knowing how important this mission is, you let her get away?" the first male snapped harshly.

"It was either retreat or die. Live to fight another day," the assassin mumbled crossly. "She gave me this," he said sourly, gesturing with his left hand to the wounded shoulder.

"Doesn't look like you'll be fighting many more days with that, Manth," the second female said somewhat sarcastically, eyeing his wound.

"I couldn't get the bleeding to stop until just a few hours ago, I've taken a boat load of potions already to remain standing. Commander, I'm requesting to withdraw from this mission for the time being, I need to see Hratli," the man said, speaking reluctantly.

The commander eyed the wound, then sighed heavily. "Go then. You're no use dead, but take Jilliania with you," he ordered, directed at the second female.

"Great, babysitting," the female said plainly, she was clearly less than pleased.

"I wouldn't send them just yet," said a seventh assassin, also male.

"Why's that?" the second male asked.

"We're being followed. I found this in the frond about two miles south of where we were this morning," he answered, holding up a strand of my white hair.

"Hmm," the commander said vaguely. "Well that is a problem we'll need to correct right now. Hand it to me, I'll lock this fool's location," the lead started.

I eyed the scene around myself carefully and judged my options. I just needed to wait a second more and then I'd have them right where I wanted them. The lead took the strand of my hair in his hand, and I sprang my trap.

"Why bother?" I said coldly, with my voice going devoid of emotion. "I'm right here."

I blasted a bolt of energy into the corpse of the female necromancer to my left that the assassin had been slicing apart. I felt remorse at having to use the body of a necromancer that way, but I think if she'd been able to tell me, she'd have given me permission to blow the murderous bitch that killed her to hell in a hand basket anyway. The remnants of the corpse exploded as the body's fluids and gases remaining bubbled to the surface of the skin, then combined with my energy and the violent energy of the female necromancer's last moments, blasted the organic shell to shreds, sending the fleshy shrapnel flying through the area. The female assassin had been caught unaware, and was instantly blown apart herself with the force. Her corpse landed onto the ground with bits of her last victim piercing through her own vitals. Ironically, it looked as if part of the necromancer's arm bone had impaled her heart.

I cast another spell, blowing up the heart in the second one's hands. The blast removed his stunned face, conveniently through the back of his own head. Blood splattered everywhere and I said the words that would animate the fluid. Though no longer living, the assassin's blood swirled together and became a solid mass of sanguine constitution. Since his blood still maintained his last few moments of life energy, the blood golem wouldn't be tied to me, and I wouldn't suffer any damage to my physical body.

I quickly set to finishing the work of whatever necromancer woman had started on the sickly male, I found the energy emanating from his ill flesh and merely gave the gangrene a boost of speed. His own neck muscle quickly rotted away, exposing the spine within. The disease entered into the man's spinal column and swiftly traveled up his brain. I could see the immediate effects of decay, he began to shout and run in circles in a crazed state, until finally collapsing into a heap.

The female next to him had tried in vain to help him, and I noticed with relish she had his blood over her hand. I enhanced the fluid with the most potent acid spell I knew and it didn't take long before her hand, armor and all, melted in slag. She shrieked in anguish and writhed, clearly unable to think straight. I hastily used a fang of Trag 'Oul to end her existence.

As expected, though I'd just killed four, three remained including the leader and all were converging on me at once. I focused on the osseous energy all around me from the fallen, and swiftly summoned their bones from their bodies as a shield.

I could feel the intense power of the assassin's blows, and knew that they were enhanced with magical energies. It wouldn't be long before they broke through my shield. I used the barrier of bone as a battering ram and shoved the solid mass into the assassin attacking from my right. The sheer weight was enough to make him stumble.

I parted my shield to allow me access to that miserable fool, while redirecting it as a barrier between the other two and myself. I prepared my dagger and lunged after the dazed assassin. I swung left, and he swung his own knife to block me. The two blades met between us and I used the opportunity to channel my poisonous energy across the two weapons. Like the female's hand, my infamous poison melted the man's dagger. He hastily relinquished his weapon and backed away, preparing to use his martial prowess against me.

He nodded his head and a force I couldn't see smashed into my body. I flew backwards into my own shield, momentarily stunned, myself. The man charged after me, using my temporary weakness to his advantage. He swung violently in a blow aimed to break my neck vertebrae. I kicked with my left leg, into his shin, clearly breaking the bone there, but that didn't affect him in the slightest. I rolled, avoiding this rage-driven assassin. In his haste to get to me, he'd bent over while targeting me on the ground. I lashed out with my other leg, catching him in the face. He leaned backwards, directly into the arms of my rampaging blood golem, which hastily snapped his neck and dropped his lifeless body to the ground at my feet.

The final essence of the assassin I had killed moments ago dissipated and with it, went the golem. It returned to the puddle of blood it had been before, promptly dosing the dead assassin beneath it. Conjuring another would be too risky, seeing as this time I would have to use my own blood and in so doing I would sustain the same damage as the golem.

I formulated a new plan as the remaining assassins broke through my shield with crackling weapons. I directed all the remaining bone fragments and parts above the head of one of the remaining assassins and promptly dropped that enormous weight on top of him, crushing him flat. Pools of scarlet blood leaked along the ground from underneath the heap of bones, leaving me and the assassin leader alone.

This man wasn't a novice; I knew that as I looked him in the eyes. He was calm, and even, despite losing his entire squadron. He was the one I would direct my questions to.

"What exactly are you looking for?" I asked him nastily, as he swung a precisely charged electric katar at my midsection.

The energy crackled and hissed as I narrowly dodged. I would grant this scum that fact that he was extremely fast.

"I don't speak with murdering scum," he said vehemently as he swung his other katar in rapid succession, actually catching the bone pauldron of my right arm and slicing it cleanly off. The bone had absorbed the shock, but I could tell the blade had gone deeper that my armor. A fiery sting was welling up over the top and I could feel my own blood begin to surface.

"You're one to talk," I hissed back violently, as I threw my hands out for a blinding curse. I blinked, and in a blur, the man was gone. I felt a sharp pain in my back as he somehow materialized behind me, smashing into the back portion of my ribcage with what felt like his foot. I turned around, albeit much too slowly. He grabbed the front of my neck and hoisted me into the air, crushing as he made to run me through.

I concentrated on my most powerful spell, my poison nova, and willed every pore of my body to release the magical toxins. Green vapor and light flowed out from my body like a halo, causing the assassin to immediately relinquish me. I saw his image shift before my eyes as his whole body became translucent. I knew he shifted into the astral plan and that the poison wouldn't affect him there. He swiftly withdrew from the area, disappearing in that same, bizarre blur of movement.

I stayed within the protective embrace of my circle of poison, I knew to strike me, he'd have to pass through it, even if it was from behind. I saw almost a moment too late that he was coming at me from above, a place my poison nova was vulnerable. I moved to disappear myself into the actual poisonous mist, but not before the assassin drove a katar into my left leg.

The pain was immense, and I knew I only had seconds to react or he would kill me. By chance, I saw that the white strand of my hair he'd been holding had caught in the folds of his cloth armor under his bracer. I quickly used that living energy to form a rope around his forearm. Though just one strand of hair, the enchanted rope sliced like wire down into his skin, halting his striking katar. He quickly dropped the weapon, having lost feeling in his hand. I then used the strand as a connection between him and me and hastily began draining his life energy from his body.

For this, because he was connected to a physical part of me, there was no escape. His entire body passed back into the physical plane, and it wasn't long before my poison nova spread over him like night over day. His body disintegrated from both outside and in, as my poison consumed his skin and my life tapping curse drained his essence, restoring me to my full strength. I pulled the katar out of my skin, and watched the wound close entirely.

The assassin could only cough and sputter, and stare at me dumbly. I snarled as I grabbed his hair, pulling him level with me. "For the record," I spat in his face as I readied my dagger. "No one crosses the Emerald Prince," I snapped. I could see the clear shock written over his dissolving face as I ran him through in his black heart, ripping it out like his colleague had done to mine. I tossed it to the ground as black blood poured over the area, too quickly drawn to turn red.

I walked over to examine the cloth they'd been drying. It would give me more information than that useless lot ever would. I scowled in dismay as I realized the assassin drying it had actually lit it on fire when the fight began. No doubt, to keep me from it. Now I had no idea what their sorry asses were after, save what the one had said about a woman. I blasted a teeth spell into the remains of an assassin to my left in frustration, and as I turned to leave, I noticed that their blood and the blood of the necromancers they killed were mixing into the ground water. I hated them, all of them. Ignorant, murderous blights. That would never change. When I left that area to return home and tell Lord Rathma of my task's completion, I could have sworn I heard something that sounded like laughter.

I found that I was still staring into the seawater below when my thoughts passed to Darius' murder. He'd been just as helpless in the end. There had to have been twenty others backing the assassin bitch I had come to know. And she herself had just appeared in a swirl of mist and killed him with a blow to the chest before he'd even had time to react. Talk about cowardly, but then again, who fights fair nowadays? Certainly not me, because I don't care if she was as helpless as a child when she crossed my path next. I would rip out her entrails to use as ornaments, then use her skeleton as my personal assistant in killing all the rest of her little craven friends. When I returned to my order shortly, I know Lord Rathma would be enraged as well. He would have to do something, and I was going to volunteer. The second she'd killed Darius, the assassin had started what was going to turn into a full scale war.

An odd thought passed over me, seemingly out of place in my seething hatred. Why hadn't they killed me also? Was it really so I could take a message to the Emerald Prince? I laughed bitterly to myself. Yeah, I got the message. And the one I sent back would be their end. The more and more I thought about what had just happened, the more restless I became and the more agitated. I should have killed at least one of them. At least one in retaliation! But what had stopped me? The Amazon. Of course I should have known that woman wouldn't have had the wit to stay away from me. She was getting more and more bold in her actions towards me, and up until now I'd chosen to ignore it. But, with recent events, that was going to change. I couldn't let her continue to act all buddy-buddy with me, I was going to have to start enforcing my threats. With the rate things were starting to happen, I couldn't trust anyone. Not even her. People could change in a split second, not just the assassin. I knew that all too well.

A subtle pain from the scar on across my thigh reaffirmed my current train of thought. It wasn't something that happened often, but every once in a while, the wound would pain me still. I saw the look on the Amazon's face in the bath. She'd seen the scar clearly and I know with her damned nosiness, she'd been about to ask me what happened.

Few knew about the events leading up to my injury and I was determined to keep it that way. Besides, she had her own scars that I'm sure she didn't want anyone asking about; there had been one over her right breast, directly in the fleshy curvature. I'd noticed several other things about her in that brief moment that surprised me. For a woman, she was definitely muscled, a fact that always seemed to be hidden under her armor. The scar over her breast wasn't the only one she had, in actuality she had quite a few marks that looked like they stemmed from battle. But for all the masculinity of such a figure, her face was still remarkably feminine and she had extremely distinguishing female endowment.

I felt myself actually start to smirk despite my foul mood. After everything else and all my self control, I still couldn't help but succumb to that one, human male weakness. She was extremely attractive, her body, though scarred had definitely been in my dreams. A part of me wondered briefly just how I felt about her, in all reality that was something I had been experiencing a certain amount of confusion over. My smirk faded quickly as the restless rage started to resurface. To hell with it, there wasn't any reason to be confused. I'd already decided that this little half-ass crush of hers was going to stop.

I watched carefully as a thin, grey fin broke the surface of the churning water below in-between waves before disappearing again seconds later. I saw another fin, not of the same shark, judging by the scar on the right side, circle towards the bow of the boat. I'd never been much for old wives tales, but it was said to be an ill omen among sailors for sharks to be following alongside and behind a boat.

I thought back to the very beginning of this forsaken trip, the original voyage I'd made in an attempt to get to Lut Gholeign at first. There were sharks circling that ship as well. Maybe, if I'd put more stock in such things, I might have seen the first attack coming.

For all his wisdom, I never understood why Lord Rathma had insisted that I make the trade voyage alone. I thought surely with all the assassins about and given what had just happened, he'd have sent someone with me. I eyed the sailor that made to move my trunk.

"Don't touch it," I said briskly.

"Captain's orders, we have to inspect all cargo comin' aboard," the moron had insisted obstinately.

He made to touch the trunk again, and I grabbed his hand, digging my nails into his salty skin. "I said, don't touch it. If you don't want to lose your arm, you'll get lost, immediately," I said evenly, not relenting in the slightest.

"I don't take kindly ter threats," the sailor said, glowering at me from his massive height. True, this man had a good foot over me and was about twice as wide, but anyone with sense would know better than to challenge a necromancer.

"And I don't tolerate imbeciles touching my belongings. I'm no old maid, I can carry my own things," I insisted dangerously. I channeled a small amount of acid-like poison into my fingertips, not enough to cause serious injury, but enough to send a clear message. The man instantly pulled away, eyeing the seared fingernail imprints in his wrist. He eyed me in surprise, but that surprise instantly turned to fear.

"You're one of them death mages," he said almost silently. "There wasn't anything on yur hand," he said, still fearful as he checked his injury over.

"Yes and if I were you, I'd get that treated immediately, before it festers," I said sinisterly, implying very well that I had cursed the wound, though in actuality, I hadn't.

He didn't need to be told twice, he hastily abandoned his attempt at search and left down the causeway. I lifted the handle of my trunk and proceeded unchallenged onto the ship. I hadn't wanted anyone to know that the trunk I was given was actually full of gold for the trades. If someone found out, I might as well have openly asked for someone to try and rob me, or kill me in my sleep and take it. As it was, I'd placed a powerful curse over the coins. If someone other than me or another necromancer tried to remove them, their hands would melt right off their bodies, just like that assassin murderer.

I'd settled into my accommodating cabin quickly and out of sight, that had been one thing Lord Rathma had been very precise in as far as advice. Interact as little as possible with others. I'd been minding my own business, sitting on the cot provided for my room. We'd only been sailing about three days and we weren't even past the Serdian spine, a feature of the Eastern Sea that marked the halfway. According to the Captain, we'd had to divert slightly off course due to a brewing storm that had the makings of a hurricane in our direct path. We'd been sailing along the coast of Kehjistan, my guess was that the captain was going to follow the eastern shores until we entered the Jertain Strait between the Twin Seas and we'd cross there to the western waters. I'd been frustrated, but I could do nothing. This detour had already added five days to the journey. I'd begun to feel the changes in the water day by day, the ship wasn't sailing as smoothly as before, the movements were becoming shorter, and more bulky.

I'd thought perhaps we were running into a rough current and decided to ignore it for the time being. I'd actually fallen asleep for the first time in days, but I didn't dream. There was nothing but blackness. But, somewhere within that blackness, I heard an unmistakable laughter. It was the same as before, though I'd never heard the voice before in my life. I'd awoken to the crackling of lightning and the booming of thunder. Men were shouting, and I smelled fire.

I hurried out onto the deck to see what was going on. The crack of lightning I heard was the electric bolt hitting the mast of the ship. It had caught flame and that same fire was now engulfing the sails. Men were trying desperately to stop the increasing blaze, but nothing they tried seemed to be working.

I slid sideways as a gale force wind broadsided me, bringing with it a large bout of angry ocean water that drenched my clothing down to the last fiber. I hastily caught myself on the railing as another wave of wayward water washed over me. In the raging currents below, I saw a school of large sharks circling anxiously. I watched as another, less fortunate traveler from our ship was washed overboard and into their waiting midst. The creatures tore him apart swiftly, seemingly in the blink of an eye there wasn't even a bone left visible.

I had to blink to realize that in the next second that followed, a shark the size of a small horse was thrown into the air, breaking the surface of the tumultuous sea, by another creature that had just appeared. It looked to me like some sort of snake, though it had several tubular tentacles instead of one main body. The creature's monstrous, arrow-like head snaked out of the waves and suddenly swallowed the large shark in a gargantuan display of five foot fangs.

The creature turned one, orange eye towards our ship and let out a shrill cry that seemed to echo through water and air. Something broadsided the ship from below, and I didn't have to ask what it was. The crunch that reverberated all around us was unsettling, and without warning, the entire vessel lurched upwards as the ship began to capsize. I got a brief glimpse of the enormous holes the monster had splintered into the hull of the ship. We were taking on water too swiftly to react. This entire ship was going to sink; I realized that without any doubt.

The crew and anyone with rational sense were heading to the smaller lifeboats and I saw one boat deploy only to be broken in half by one of the enormous monster's appendages. Another boat, only containing two people, was promptly drowned into nothing by the savage waters.

I looked around myself swiftly; there really wasn't much of an option to stay on board at the rate the ship was burning on what surface was left above water. I cursed inwardly; knowing that there was no way that I could save the Order's gold and this was going to be a difficult thing to explain to Lord Rathma, whom had entrusted me with this important task. But, my life was more important than an inanimate pile of metal circles, and this I knew Lord Rathma held true as well. For all our reputation as cold and heartless, we were loyal to our own, and Lord Rathma most of all.

I noted grimly that there was not one, but several of these odd creatures in the water as I looked down. I grabbed a barrel nearby, and thinking quickly, I roped myself to it, knowing it would float despite the unforgiving water conditions below. I didn't feel any remorse as I called the bones of the dead men out of the waters around me and some from the deck below me. I used their pieces as a shield before I plunged into the water below. It had been just in time, the last remnants of the mast had fallen through the starboard side of the ship, sinking the vessel completely.

Salt stung my eyes as I strained through the murky darkness to make out anything at all through the plasma of my circling bone shield. The water gave my magical energy holding the shield a glimmering appearance that seemed to magnify and illuminate my immediate area. I saw a tentacled beast surge through the water toward me and in the brief light; I noticed that this really wasn't a creature at all, but some sort of demon. The entire being seemed to be rotting away, like a corpse, but somehow it was still alive. Slime and oceanic moss coated the open sores of this creature's trunk and trailed behind it like a fin of fungus where it had become caught. The inner flesh of the tubular body was a diseased combination of grey and green as the monster wrapped its enormous mass around the bone shield and began to constrict. And if the appearance wasn't enough, this whole bastard reeked of evil, tainted energy.

I conjured a bone spear in my hand, realizing that I was quickly losing the breath I had saved. I needed to pry this creature off immediately. I made to jab it deeply into the thing's side, but something hit my bone shield from the left, knocking me into the right wall of it by sheer force. I must have hit my head, because I blacked out.

"I'll bet you're not too fond of these ships," came the voice of the amazon from behind me. I chose to ignore her. Small talk was not something I was going to indulge in right now. She didn't seem to be discouraged by my silence, she continued anyway.

"You're thinking about the last time you were on one of these, aren't you?" she deduced with little difficulty. "The one that put you on the Amazon Isles?" she continued.

I still didn't answer, but she still didn't quit.

"And you're probably thinking about what happened to Darius," she furthered. "Piricus, I seriously doubt there was anything you could have done to prevent it," she said, taking on a comforting tone, "Nobody had any idea that Maria would just . . ." she trailed off grimly.

I snorted bitterly. "I did. I never trusted that bitch for a moment, and neither should any of you," I answered sharply. "Assassins are just that, murderers," I finished bluntly.

"I wanted to believe better," she said ruefully, "but, I'm beginning to think you're right," she finished, which surprised me some.

"Maybe you really are gaining some sense. If I were you, I'd watch that paladin too. I have a feeling he might be next," I hissed venomously.

The amazon was silent, and I could feel the unease in her stance as she no doubt mulled over the state of that so-called holy man. What a moron, that man. Honestly, and truly. I'd overheard the conversation of that alchemist and the sage when I was in Lut Gholeign, preparing the Adder's Vice for transport. He was dying, freezing from the inside out as a result of his witless, self-sacrificing jump atop the Prince of Pain.

The amazon shifted around uncomfortably behind me. "I guess that could be true of anyone, not just him," she said at last.

I turned around to look at her dismissively. "You're full of joy lately," I said sarcastically. "Someone steal your favorite spearhead?" I snorted snidely in response to her uncharacteristic pessimism.

"Hardly," she replied bluntly. "But you're one to talk. In fact, I'm surprised that you are right now. You haven't said anything at all in the three days since we left Lut Gholeign. Not that I blame you," she added apologetically.

"I've nothing to say to the sorry lot of you," I growled truthfully. "When we hit the docks I am gone, and this time it will be for good. This conversation is over," I stated sourly, with my minimal patience gone. I turned and began walking away, and not surprisingly, she followed me.

"You'll be going home then?" she asked, though I knew she already knew the answer. "What about Mephisto?" she asked hesitantly. "That was the other half of this, wasn't it?" she finished.

"That was all of it," I said briskly as I continued walking away. "And I will get him back, just wait and see. And I will do it without any help from anyone else," I added icily, reflecting the thoughts in my mind.

"I don't think you can," the amazon said suddenly, making me stop in my tracks. "I don't think any one person alone can fight a Prime Evil. Despite what you think, you will need help," she said boldly. "Why don't you stay with us, Piricus? We're going that way anyway," she added with that same audacity.

I whirled on her. "You have no idea who you're talking to," I hissed irritably. "You don't know the first thing about me, or what I'm truly capable of," I said truthfully.

"You've always said that," she acknowledged, "but until three days ago, I wouldn't have believed it. You're very powerful, I will admit that with no shame," she admitted, "And after what I saw when Maria killed Darius, I also have no doubt you've been holding back some, but strong or not, it's still not going to be enough," she continued obstinately.

"What do you know amazon?" I asked apathetically as I turned away once more, trying not to let my emotions get the better of me. I needed to maintain my appearance of indifference at all costs. There could still be a Viz-Jaq'Taar on this boat and if they saw any slightest emotion, they'd strike. "You're talking like an arrogant fool. You've never seen this monster before," I said plainly.

"I've probably seen him more than you have," she retorted defiantly.

"How so?" I growled.

She tapped her temple as she stepped in front of me. "I saw him in a vision last night," she said simply. "Would you like to know what I saw?" she asked, reading the odd look I know must have been on my face.

"No," I lied, though it sounded entirely truthful and natural. I was very interested to know what it was she saw, but I would not let the temptation put me in the debt of anyone else. "I will do this without anyone, and most especially a nosy woman like you," I answered rudely.

"Show her some respect for one moment, asshole. Considering everything she's done for your sorry ass," the warrior said nastily as he walked around the corner of the deck.

"Little midgets like you shouldn't be eavesdropping on private conversations. I will drop kick you over the edge of this ship and curse you immobile without a second thought," I hissed with equal animosity.

"Too bad she didn't get you too. If you ask me, I think Maria should have aimed a bit to the left and taken both of you out," the warrior continued with malice. "The world would be a much better place."

"Stop," the amazon commanded him harshly. "Necromancer or no, she killed an innocent man," she continued sourly, "And there is nothing good about that!"

"Why are you here, imbecile?" I demanded to him myself. "I'm about a fraction of a second from killing you," I snarled, meaning every word.

"I could care less about your worthless ass," the warrior snapped at me. "In fact, I hope you slip and fall overboard. I came to find Chyemme, I wanted to talk to her for a moment and Elder Cain wanted to see her as well," he retorted with antipathy.

"Tell Elder Cain I'll be there shortly," the amazon said with a tone of awkwardness in her voice. I turned to look at her, surprised by the sound of it.

"Will you go with me?" the warrior asked, though much more polite, "I wanted to speak with you as well."

"I'm sorry, I need to finish my conversation with Piricus first," she said seemingly in one breath.

The warrior's face reflected a mixture of confusion, and hurt. He cast me a malcontented glare, as if daring me to say something.

"Another time, perhaps?" she asked courteously, though I could feel the tension coming off of her body. What in the name of Trag 'Oul was going on?

The warrior merely shrugged. "I guess it can wait. I'll let the Elder know," he said curtly before leaving.

I locked eyes with her and noticed she was watching him leave around the corner with discomfort. "What conversation am I supposed to be having with you?" I growled. "I said I'm through with you, though this whole scenario is about a twelve out of ten on my abnormal meter," I said sarcastically.

She looked at me with an anguished expression for a moment. "I really don't want to talk about all the garbage that happened three days ago. This is just a small part of an enormous list," she said with a heavy sigh. "Piricus," she began again.

A large droplet of water suddenly fell from the sky and landed on her cheek bone below her eye. I blinked as another droplet of fat rainwater hit my own forearm. In no time at all, rain was washing the entire deck. I quickly checked the sky for signs of lightning or a more threatening storm, but noted that other than the thick water-laden clouds, there was no sign of a thunderstorm. A cold chill washed across the surface of the ship, sending shivers down my wet skin. The last thing I needed was a damned cold; I pulled my robes more tightly around myself and started walking away towards my cabin with the amazon still following me.

"This is just perfect," she grumbled miserably as the dank chill caused Goosebumps to appear on her exposed flesh. The droplets of heavy rain clinked against her platemail accents over her leather armor with tiny clinks, making her sound like a silver bell with every step she took.

"You'd better get out of this weather before you rust, amazon," I said snidely.

"I think I'd freeze first," she rebutted with her own sarcasm.

One of the ship's crewmen stumbled by us next to the ship's railing in his hustle to get to some oddly placed rope. He inclined his head toward us, before speaking. "Captain Meshif's saying the water's getting pretty rough. He's advised everyone not on working crew duty to go into the belly. He says the storm's picking up and we're gonna see some nasty waves," he warned briefly before he continued by.

"I'm going to my cabin," I hissed irritably, having a creeping sense of Déjà vu.

"Is that yours?" the amazon asked me ironically, eyeing the door to the left of us.

"What now?" I growled angrily as I opened the door to the small interior.

"Looks like you sprung a leak," she said humorously as we both eyed the large puddles of water pouring through holes in my cabin ceiling all over my bed and belongings.

I cursed loudly in the old language and slammed the door shut so hard that it actually broke off at the top. I had to refrain from cursing the amazon when she started to laugh at my terrible fortunes, it would simply be more trouble than it was worth. With her, it always was. Could this voyage get any worse? I scowled openly. I didn't want to know the answer.

"You should come with me to see Elder Cain below deck," the amazon said simply. "It's a lot drier and probably going to be a lot warmer," she advised.

"I don't really have an option other than to curse someone into oblivion," I said in a quiet, seething anger. "You go ahead, otherwise that person might be you, seeing as you're the closest," I hissed in frustration.

She shrugged. "Suit yourself," she replied and quickly left for the hull. I made sure she was gone before hurrying into my room, sloshing through the water as I went, drenching my leather boots. I quickly undid the latch to my trunk, revealing the contents within. There were two dozen vials of various colors stowed neatly in a smaller cube within my trunk, each wrapped in a thick wool cloth to prevent them from rubbing together and breaking. I swiftly checked them over individually; luckily they'd stayed completely dry. I pulled the fancy clothing the emperor had demanded to waste money on for his party and shredded the undershirt before placing it around the edges of my trunk to act as a further sealant from the water. I carefully closed the lid and hauled the trunk under a small desk that was present in the room and sealed the open space away from the wall with a blanket from my bed by tucking it into the desk drawer.

Adder's Vice is an extremely dangerous poison and immensely explosive. It has to stay completely dry, and cannot be hot or cold without combusting. I'd assured Darius that I could get them by the port security and I had. For one, I'd cursed a nearby merchant with minor memory loss and swapped one of his clothing crates for the original box the poison had come in. The clothing box bore his merchant seal, and I'd done my research, he was one of the Emperor's most favored merchants.

Secondly, I'd bought the multicolored vials a few hours before leaving Lut Gholeign and transferred the Adder's Vice into them in secrecy. The good thing about Adder's Vice is that while viscous, it is mostly colorless when in a sealed glass container. It only turns blue when exposed to the air. The bottles had been dyed with the same substance they use for clothing and still retained some of the original residue on the outside. Not to mention, some of these vials were decoys anyway, they actually were useless, colored dyes.

Needless to say, in an esteemed clothing merchant's box with some actual dye and then the rest of the adder's vice disguised as dye in stained containers, I'd been able to slip it by unnoticed. In an inward plea to whatever force of good fortune I possibly had left, I hoped to hell it would stay that way until I could return to my order.

Once I was sure the Adder's Vice was secured, I made my way down into the hull of the ship to join whatever council the amazon was attending. To my displeasure, what all of the original band of morons that remained was gathered as here as well. In my time aboard the ship, I'd been meticulous in my efforts to avoid them; I had no desire to have any interaction with anyone that might lead me further away from returning home. Speaking to the amazon had been the first words I'd spoken to anyone in three days. I was resolved not to say anything and to leave the second it stopped this damned downpour, no matter what that old buzzard had to say.

I slipped into a shadowy corner and sat on a large crate silently. To my displeasure, the amazon was expecting me and noticed me come in. She looked my way and so did everyone else. I said nothing, but glowered dangerously, daring them to start something.

The amazon seemed to sense my desire to be aloof; she quickly turned to the sage and nodded to him respectfully. I noticed that her entire head was drenched, and water was running down through her soaked hair like a hose.

The barbarian took off a cloak he had buckled around his massive shoulders and handed it to her as she took a seat beside him. "'Ere," he said kindly. "Ya kin use it ter dry off, I don' mind," he assured.

"Thank you," the amazon replied genuinely.

The sorcerer walked over to seat himself on the amazon's other side. He rolled his wrist briskly, conjuring a subdued ball of flickering, flame, which he used to light the wick of an enormous pole candle to her left.

"Sit next to fire, you dry soon," he said simply.

"Yeah, you don't want to get sick," the sorceress added, tossing her a wineskin that sloshed as it moved through the air.

"We all know what an inconvenience that would be," the rogue said bitterly as she eyed the amazon. I blinked slowly, absorbing the animosity in the little girl's tone. It was uncharacteristic of her, whom was normally so meek that she wouldn't risk offending a mouse. I also noticed with some surprise that she wasn't sitting anywhere near the warrior, or anyone else for that matter. Like me, she was sitting off to one side, apart from everyone else.

It didn't take a genius to deduce that something major had happened, obviously between her and the warrior, but what was it that made her and the amazon at odds? I didn't have to think back far. Her awkwardness towards the warrior not half the hour past was now making an extreme amount of sense. I thought back further to my observations in the Arcane Sanctuary. I didn't need to be keen of mind to realize just how correct my assumptions must have been. Something happened, I don't know when, but I had the feeling this love triangle had just exploded in an ugly fashion.

"What's this?" the amazon asked skeptically, opening the top of the wineskin and sniffing the contents with a wrinkle in her nose.

"Meldonian fire whisky," the barbarian answered with a laugh. "Some o' tha stongest stuff n' Sanctuary. Jus' one sip o' that's enough ter nearly bring tha dead back ter life," he added with another strong chuckle.

I scoffed, but said nothing else, making the fool turn to me.

"Doubt ya've ever had any, Piricus, 'cause I think even you would agree with me," he said with that same, irritating humor.

"Wow, no retort jackass?" the sorceress said in astonishment after my silence. "What? Did you just realize you're human and can still be killed by an assassin blade?" she said with resentment.

I hissed at her dangerously, but then couldn't suppress the sarcastic laugh that came from my mouth. "We're on the same level, sorceress. You, me, and your stupid boyfriend. Time after time, she let you slide, and then murdered an innocent man who'd done nothing. This just shows just how devout to justice she really was. I wouldn't be so cocky, little bitch," I said in deadly sincerity. "Now that the assassin finally flipped her lid, you're probably right next to me on her shit list," I said bluntly.

For this, even the arrogant airhead had no come back. I saw a steely look form behind her eyes, and I knew my words had been at the forefront of her mind long before I spoke them.

"There had to be a reason," said a truly morose voice from behind everyone else. It took me a minute for shock to realize that it was the paladin. All the optimism had gone from his pesky, perky voice, a feat I never thought possible. He was seated atop a barrel looking at the side wall as if it had become interesting. He held his armored hands rung together in his lap with a defeated posture.

"So much for redemption, paladin," I scoffed venomously, relishing the obvious pain that my mere words stabbed into his already wounded emotions. I had no idea whether it was the assassin, his life-shortening condition, or the situation at hand, maybe a combination of the three, but it was clear, the paladin's fight had gone out of him for some reason.

"There's always a chance," the paladin said softly, though with half his normal spunk. I was seriously doubtful if he really meant that.

"That was half-ass if I ever heard it," I continued maliciously.

"Elder," the druid said quickly, "what did you need to tell us?"

The old sage cleared his throat. "I've been speaking with Captain Meshif, and he believes that Lady Adria was correct about the storm. He's asked me to rally everyone I've been traveling with and keep everyone below deck until the storm brews over. He says the waves are getting intense and he doesn't want anyone falling overboard," the old sage relayed.

I scowled irritably. "Why not just keep us in our cabins?"

"The good Captain wanted everyone accounted for," the sage said respectfully.

"Well, we are," the rogue said plainly.

"Not everyone," the druid said quickly as he stood to leave. "My friends are still in my cabin. I'll be back shortly," he said and left before anyone could stop him.

True to his word, the druid returned moments later with his bear, two mutts, and his pigeon. The bear eyed us restlessly but on his urge, laid down on the floor with a shockwave of motion. The two mutts took far more reassurance, nether seemed willing to just sit idly by. The grey one without a tail pranced around on all four feet like a finicky horse, unable to find a spot to sit comfortably. The brown one wasn't much better; it stumbled on all feet with much less grace than I thought it had as the boat pitched back and forth in the water.

The druid sat on the wooden deck in-between the three of them with his bird perched on his shoulder. He looked soaked down to his toes like the amazon, and it wasn't long before the paladin handed him his own traveling cloak to dry off with.

"So how long was this storm supposed to last?" the sorceress asked, slightly impatient.

The druid took to rubbing his brown mutt's soaked ears absently as he spoke. "By the shape and color of the clouds I saw overhead and not to mention the rains and winds, I'd say it might continue at this strength for more than two days," he responded honestly.

"We're going to be stuck down here for two days?" the rogue growled in displeasure, a sentiment I more than shared, but I was truly surprised that it was coming from her.

"I thought you liked this little band of witless wonders," I said to her casually, keenly interested into how her sour attitude might respond.

"Quite frankly, I couldn't care less right now," she hissed venomously, with her voice aimed in the warrior's general direction.

He grimaced, though she didn't look at him to see it. "Ohh," I said sarcastically. "Care to share the sudden change of heart?"

"Stuff it, Piricus," she said defiantly, and I blinked. There was something about the rogue's new attitude, something that I actually respected a little bit. Instead of crying like a little girl, getting scared and running to the warrior, or giving me some unrealistic backtalk, today her retort carried a new weight. It was almost if I angered her further, she might actually attack me. I was hesitant to say it, but I actually think I was a little bit impressed.

I give respect where it's due, so I actually smirked at her. "That was impressive, for you," I said simply and fell silent. The steely glare she gave me from her grey eyes turned into one of mild confusion, but I think she might have sensed I was being serious, so she let the matter drop.

The barbarian made to say something to her, but the amazon cut him off. "Elder, do you have any tales to tell us? Something to occupy the time?" she asked quickly.

The old sage looked around at us and his surroundings curiously. "Hmm . . ." he mumbled, continuing to let his glance wander, "I have many," he answered simply, "but which one would be appropriate for now?" His old eyes finally came to rest on the druid of all people and then moved to the bird on his shoulder. A knowing smile crept to the old man's face. "I know just the thing. I promised to tell you the tale, did I not?" he asked, directed at the druid.

"Yes, you did," he said with a nod, turning to look at his bird.

"Very well," the old man said with a final nod. "The tale I shall tell you is the one of Shen'teia Baldrok, a well respected druidess, and the lover of Fiacla-Gear, founder of the druidic order," he announced.

"How does this relate to Bibo?" the warrior asked, curiously.

"Patience, good Ryelass. I'll get to that," he answered slowly. "Now then," he said, clearing his throat, "In the times of the Den'telmina, or in common tongue, the beginning before the end, there lived two great friends, Bul-Kathos," he started, evoking a strong nod from the barbarian whom seemed to recognize the name, "and Fiacla-Gear. Both where once of the same tribe and both were charged with the protection of Mt. Arreat, wherein supposedly lies the World Stone. Both where proud members of the Wolf Tribe and for many years fought valiantly against all whom would seek their ruin and the destruction of the world stone. Now, the time in which they lived was known as the beginning before the end because in those days, the Prime Evils had not yet surfaced into the world of mortals. Up until that time, there was never a need for magic, or any means of combat beyond the ancestor's own martial prowess," the sage continued.

"However, all that changed on the day the first demon broke across the divide. The legends and scrolls say that the demon could have possibly been under the command of the fallen angel, Izual, whom told the monster how to come across the barrier having once been a servant of heaven himself, but this is speculation and is unclear. Some also say that this first demon was also a servant of Diablo, sent to scout the world of mortals and tell of their strength. Whatever the case, that was a battle that ended up costing many lives. As mortals, they simply weren't prepared to deal with the nightmares this creature of hell unleashed. Bul-Kathos and Fiacla-Gear were forced to retreat with their men," he furthered.

"For many nights and days, the two argued over what needed to be done. Bul-Kathos thought that they could defeat the demon using the old ways, the martial ways, and that the tribes merely needed to train and plan harder. Fiacla-Gear on the other hand, insisted upon a different way. He insisted that the only way they were to become strong enough to vanquish the monster was in working closely with the land they had sworn to protect. He argued that they needed a power greater, and older than humanity. And so Fiacla-Gear left the lands of Arreat for a time, to seek this power. Fiacla-Gear searched for many months and prayed to his gods for an answer and by chance, he happened upon a woman named Shen'Teia. Shen'Teia was one of the last daughters of the Forestine Elders, a group of barbarian women that lived apart from the men in the upper recesses of Scosglen. The women of Scosglen, after splitting from their male counterparts on the slopes of Arreat long ago on the basis of religious disagreement, where rumored to have perfected the arts of communicating with nature. Legend states that Fiacla-Gear first met Shen'Teia when he saved a dying raven from a poacher's trap, and it is said that their love unfolded from there," he explained.

"In the time they came to know each other, Shen'Teia shared many forbidden secrets of her people with Fiacla-Gear, and in time, taught him the ways of the earth. Fiacla-gear took to the arts better than anyone thought possible and even mastered the art of lycanthropy, or shape-shifting, a technique that had been lost to the Forestine Elders for many generations. He learned to summon animals from great distances and how to make plants move and even the languages of weather and wind. When the time came, Fiacla-Gear bid farewell to his love and returned to Arreat to show Bul-Kathos what he had learned. Impressed with his newfound knowledge, though reluctant to try it himself, Bul-Kathos welcomed his friend back to Arreat with open arms. The situation there had become quite grim; several more demons had crossed the barrier. Bul-Kathos had been able to rally all the tribes behind him and as such, had been fairing reasonably well in protecting his home until the battle of Lettara-Fetlyl or "Clashing of Titans", in which Bul-Kathos was struck down trying to defend his oldest son. Fiacla-Gear came to his aid and used his new magic to summon an army of animals to their aid and saved Bul-Kathos' life by transforming into a werewolf and killing the demon," the old man rambled on.

"But things were not meant to go so smoothly. Despite their overwhelming numbers and new allies, the forces of Arreat were nearly decimated when a demon called Kaldrith the Anguish-Bringer appeared through their ranks. The demon targeted Fiacla-Gear, deeming him to be the biggest threat and try though he might, Fiacla-Gear could not prevail against this horror. He would have received a mortal injury, but Shen'Teia appeared at his side, taking the wound in his stead. The rage at seeing his loved one fall was enough to allow Fiacla-Gear to master the fiery vents below Arreat and he was able to cast the demon into darkness once more. Fiacla-Gear raced to Shen'Teia's side, but he knew he couldn't save her. It is said that a single, raven feather fell from above and gave him the idea, but Fiacla-Gear turned Shen'Teia permanently into a Raven using the druidic way. He saved her life with the change, and because of his druidic powers, was able to communicate with her all the days of his life. Bul-Kathos and Fiacla'Gear ended up parting ways on good terms after this battle, each admitted the other's theory had merit, and opted to train warriors in their own way. Fiacla-Gear took a small group of warrior-poets and shamans into Scosglen and there the druidic order was founded. As for Shen'Teia, it is said that she was by the side of Fiacla-Gear as a raven until the end of his life," he stated.

"But the story doesn't end there. The legends say that the great mother oak, Glor-an-Fhaidha took pity of Shen'Teia's grief over the loss of her mortal beloved as she nestled in her branches and sang her mournful song. The great tree was rumored to have taken her human memories away, and she became a bird completely. The Feathra, or old-world ravens are rumored to have extraordinary long-life if they do not meet their end in a violence, some living over 700 years. It is said that in the absence of Fiacla-gear, Shen'Teia looked after all druids of the order as if they were her own brood. Some say that she still lives among them today, along with her bird-kin," the old sage finished, looking at the druid's raven.

"Wait," the sorceress said bluntly. "You think Cloudyous' raven is Shen'Teia?" she asked, slightly indignant.

The old sage laughed. "I haven't the slightest idea if she is the original Shen'Teia, or just one of her children, but I know she is related somehow. You see, only a member of the Horadrim would know this, and I am the last surviving one, but Shen'Teia and her chicks all have a distinguishing feature. It is a triangular grey coloration in their down against the breast under the right wing. It was the injury the demon gave to Shen'Teia and for some reason; all her chicks were born with that same birthmark. Lift up her wing, Lord Cloudyous, and take a look," the old man suggested.

The druid carefully moved his pigeon's wing aside and parted the thick outer feathers to reveal the mark. The stunned look that crossed the druid's face was almost comical. "I had no idea. I mean, I knew the legend, but that last part," he said quietly.

"It's 'cause yur not a Horadrim," the barbarian laughed.

"True enough," the druid admitted. "But, Elder Cain, how do you know Bibo?" he asked, astonished.

The old man nodded. "I know your particular raven because she fought alongside several Horadrim warriors I knew over eighty years ago in the battle against one of Diablo's priests, and a sage I met there with them was over a hundred years old; he recognized her from the battles against Baal in the deserts over 100 years prior to that when he was a small boy. She's been a lot of key battles, your magnificent Bibo," the sage said simply as he locked eyes with the bird.

"I think," the old man said, becoming quiet, "And this is just an opinion of an old man, but I think that it is possible that your Bibo might be the original Shen'Teia, but as I said before, I have no solid evidence, and any I might have gotten is long gone," he said with a laugh, a gesture that strangely enough, the bird seemed to mimic.

The door to the room opened and the man I recognized as Captain of the ship came in, sloshing water as he went. He bowed quickly to us, and then laughed. "One devil of a storm, but you'll be pleased to know that bearings are putting us just offshore. We'll be docking in Kurast inside of the sun cycle, storm or no. Stay down here in the barrel for now though, water's still pretty dangerous," he advised us, and left quickly.

I couldn't restrain the anxious feeling building up in my gut. That was too easy, and with my life as it is, nothing ever happens this simply. Something wasn't right.


	3. Chapter 3

AN: Sorry it took a while to update guys, life happened, along with a crack ton more pain and heartache. Thanks again for everyone reading and reviewing, and for all the emails and pictures! You guys are so awesome, each and every one of you! As a side note, the back story included for Scorpious in this chapter is actually a summary. Scorpious' own full account is written in my story Truth Beneath the Rose if you guys feel up to checking it out.

Disclaimer: I do not own Diablo or Diablo 2 all copyrights and the like are still in effect and property of Blizzard Entertainment.

The Wayward Road

Chyemme

I sat in the barrel of the ship quietly as Elder Cain had finished his intriguing tale about how he had come to know Cloudyous' raven and Captain Meshif had announced that we were in close range to the Kurast docks. I looked around the room at the party that had assembled, and a part of my heart just ached miserably when I looked at Scorpious. I'd never seen him in this state of depressed melancholy in all the time I'd known him and that scared me. That is not to say that Scorpious wasn't human and everyone, I was willing to bet, even Piricus had gone through these moods at some point or other in their lives. But for Scorpious this seemed to be different, and I had a feeling that this darkness was something to be concerned about. Especially when he'd been like this during the entire voyage to Kurast, and it had been four and a half days by my estimation.

I watched my paladin friend in sympathy as he continued to stare blankly into the solid oak siding of the ship, apparently studying the natural grooves in the wood-grain. I didn't know why, but I instinctively began moving towards him, while the others were caught in mild discussion among themselves, save Piricus.

"Scorpious," I began, unsure of what to say, or what I really meant to convey by this gesture to begin with.

He answered me without turning to look at me; his gaze never wavered from the slowly pitching walls of the ship. "Yes, Chyemme? Is there something I can help you with?" he asked politely, and though his voice still held a bout of sincerity, it was immensely lacking in the zealous compassion I had come to expect from him.

"I," I started hesitantly, but a sudden intense wave shoved our vessel harshly to the right. My leather boots of all the rest of me had yet to dry from my previous exposure to the ocean water and on the polished floor of the ship, they lacked the proper traction. I slid into the barrel Scorpious was seated on, and the wooden seating fell sideways, taking him with it. Apparently he'd been just as caught off guard by the sudden ferocity of the waters outside, and his armored body fell harshly onto the deck with a loud clank. I noted grimly that his reflexes were extremely slowed, and he hadn't managed to right himself before falling in a violently awkward position. I watched with a pang of guilt as he struggled with some difficulty to roll himself over and try to stand again.

I quickly knelt to help him and offered him a hand up, which he took swiftly with a furtive glance around. The gesture reminded me of something Maria would have done; scanning the area to see if anyone had noticed me help him. I guess I could understand. I knew he was dying and he was struggling to stand, but no one else did except for Deckard Cain and Piricus. They would all be concerned for certain if they observed that Scorpious couldn't even lift himself up from the deck by himself.

The moment he took my hand in his armored one, my inner sight activated and I began to see flashes of strange places and several people. All the scenes I witnessed seemed to be taking place in a jungle environment and all the people around had heavy armor. I processed the images as quickly as I was able, but they were a jumble at best and I didn't know what to make of them. The few that stuck with me were the four at the end. There were a boy, and a girl, probably the older of them being no more than ten cycles and they were standing in the middle of some half-burnt forest with oily, ebony smoke wafting through the trees like mist. The boy was crying and the girl was screaming. Though I didn't know what was going on I felt a feeling of great sadness, more specifically remorse.

The next thing I saw was a man, same armor as the rest, but this man had something truly powerful about him and truly divine. He was middle-aged and had a head of shoulder-length golden hair, and a golden cross, just like the one that adorned Scorpious' armor. He was smiling stoutly and saying something in a language I didn't understand. I felt a flicker of emotion from Scorpious' mind, it was a powerful compassion. Whoever this man was, Scorpious admired him greatly, respected him, and I daresay even loved him in what appeared to be a fatherly manner.

The third image I received was one of another man, though he was dressed in a grand manner with a full suit of silvered platemail armor and a regal-looking plated helm that had silver wings on either side. He had a paper in his hand tied with a simple cord and sealed with a deep burgundy wax bearing some sort of crest with the religious symbol of the Zakarum pressed upon it. The feelings I received for this vision was one of urgency and . . . uncertainty. There was also a bit of guilt, though I knew not why.

The last thing I saw through his mind was no surprise, I saw Maria. Her fair skin was drenched in the scarlet blood of Darius the necromancer, and her beautiful ruby dress had become a demented mockery of its former self, accented not with glitter like it had been before the murder, but with liquid crimson splotches. No surprise either, I felt a terrible aching pain, the kind you feel when you've just lost something extremely precious.

"Come with me, please Chyemme," Scorpious' soft, but disheartened voice requested of me quietly, as I realized I was still holding onto his arm.

His voice had been barely above a whisper, but the tumultuous sound of his fall had silenced all other noise in the immediate area, and everyone had turned to look at us. I hastily collected myself and slid the surprise off my facial features as best I was able. To my fortune, it looked as if this mental exchange between Scorpious and me had gone unnoticed by everyone else, including Piricus. His steely emerald eyes showed no signs of interest in anything unusual, just his ever-present animosity for my paladin friend. Perhaps it had been because my back was turned and Scorpious was on the ground, so nobody really got a look at our faces, and Maria, whom had a talent for discerning these things, was no longer among us.

"Where're you going?" I heard Ryelass ask us, somewhat suspiciously as he eyed my hand on Scorpious' forearm. "The Captain said to stay in here," he added with a slight frown.

I sighed heavily, unable to suppress it before it could escape my lips. Ryleass' affections for me were just another catastrophe that I'd been somehow caught up in, and in the brief time since they had surfaced to public knowledge, he'd become overtly and, in my opinion, overly protective of me. I was unsure as to how to feel about this whole situation other than uncomfortable and awkward; I cared for Ryelass as a friend and fellow warrior but my romantic feelings belonged to someone else entirely.

"I would like her to accompany me back to my cabin; I wish to speak with her privately regarding a discussion we held previously. I would ask you please respect my privacy Ryelass, and hers too," Scorpious supplied blandly. I could feel the exhaustion in him and it was even staring to come out in his voice. "Elder if possible, will you join us as well?" he added, directed respectfully at Deckard Cain.

A knowing look crossed the elderly sage's features and he nodded simply. "Of course."

At the addition of Elder Cain to Scorpious' private counsel, Ryelass seemed to relax somewhat. I growled inwardly in displeasure, realizing that he probably was uneasy with me being alone with any man here, or maybe it was just Scorpious. Either way I didn't care at the moment.

"What's with this private party?" Vendra asked with a humorous snort. "It's not like you to keep secrets, Scorpious."

"It's about my letter from home, the secrets are mine," I lied outright. I could feel the muscles in Scorpious' forearms tense beneath my hand in reaction to the sin, but he was silent.

"What's so personal that you can't say it in front of everyone else? Do you have a private confession session with a paladin in his personal bedchambers every time you sneeze?" Laurella shot at me hotly, implying something entirely dishonorable.

"It not like that and you know it. You make self appear foolish speaking words," Sovellis chided disapprovingly.

"How would you know anything about it?" Laurella growled flatly.

"Don't start with him too, or you'll answer to me," Vendra said in clear, irritated warning.

Laurella looked her over childishly and snorted, but said nothing, evoking a growl from my sorceress friend.

"Spoken as one child to another," Piricus taunted dryly at the pair of them. "Step aside paladin," Piricus said maliciously as he pushed past him on his way to the door, almost causing him to fall again. "I'm done with this foolery," added coldly and disappeared into the pouring rain outside.

"I hope he falls into the water and drowns before he hits the surface," Laurella hissed rudely after Piricus' retreating form. "And you can fall in after him," she snarled, looking at me spitefully.

An irritated growl passed through my teeth. I had no time for this childish stupidity. I opened my mouth to reply, but Elder Cain placed a withered hand on my shoulder. "My good lady, would you please escort me? I'm afraid my aged feet have little love for a sloshed deck," he asked politely, offering me his arm.

"Yes, I will," I replied snappishly, although my tone was not directed at him. I gently took his arm, allowing the elder to place his full weight firmly on me, supported so that he'd be steadier in walking. Laurella continued to stare me down with contempt, but I took a deep breath to calm myself and instead looked out onto the deck. It was still raining hard, but it was not nearly the downpour it had been hours ago. At any rate, I was definitely glad that the prediction for being stuck in the barrel of the ship for two days had not come to actuality.

Carefully I escorted Elder Cain out into the rain-filled night. I kept him close to my side and he held my arm steadily. I'm sure the others watched us leave and when Scorpious closed the door behind us, I swiftly had to catch him with my other arm.

"Scorpious?" I asked in concern.

He quickly braced himself against my other arm and regained his own steady footing with an apologetic frown. "Sorry about that, Chyemme," he said in earnest. "Elder I think it's time for another draught," he said wearily, though his voice was half-drown by the raging sounds of water.

The elder didn't need to hear him to understand. "I suspected you might, it's already ready," he replied grimly over the howling winds.

The three of us carefully made our way over the drenched deck and were solidly soaked to the soles of our boots by the time we arrived at Scorpious' cabin. My paladin friend fumbled in a pouch at his waist, succeeding in removing a partially rusted iron key. His armored hand was shaky and lacked finesse as he fumbled through the rain and ocean spray to unlock his own door. I made to help him, but he waved me away gently.

"Got it," he assured, though wearily as the large, wooden door creaked open into the humid interior of his chambers.

Grateful to get out of the wet and chilly atmosphere, Elder Cain and myself quickly followed Scorpious inside the doorframe to his room and waited as he lit an oil lamp on a stand by his bed. The dull flame flickered weakly and struggled against the wet air to remain ignited upon the wick, much like Scorpious himself in my opinion.

"Forgive me, I have to sit for a moment," Scorpious apologized and nonchalantly plopped his armored body onto his bed with a thud, resting his back against the wall behind the bed. "Chyemme, there's a chair over in the corner, I'd have gotten it out for you, but I'm afraid I just don't have the strength right now," he apologized.

I nodded softly. "You've nothing to apologize for, I understand," I said sympathetically and made my way across the small, plain room to the corner and removed not so much a chair, but a rickety wooden bar stool.

"Elder, seeing as there's only one chair, would you like to sit? I can stand," I supplied courteously. Respect for elders was one virtue on the Amazon Isles that was strictly enforced. I grimaced slightly. It was almost taboo to be insubordinate for us, and yet it was because of my unwillingness to listen to my mother that I was even here now.

The old sage smiled softly at the consideration but waved his hand dismissively. "Thank you my dear, but what kind of a gentleman would I be if I placed myself over a lovely young lady?" he chuckled softly. "And besides, I need to administer his potion to our dear Lord Scorpious," he added kindly, pulling out a long, narrow vial of some pale yellow liquid from a deep pocket in his weathered grey robe.

The elder steadily made his way to Scorpious' bedside and carefully helped Scorpious remove his plate sabatons and left boot. I couldn't suppress the stiff intake of breath when I saw the damage present on Scorpious' colored skin. His skin was a light brown by nature, but his entire foot was almost completely white and actually had translucent splotches in a few places by his heel and over the bridge on the top. It was almost like he was wearing a diseased sock and I noted ruefully that there appeared to be blood clots in the translucent places over the veins and what appeared to be black crystal lattices branching out from the veins themselves like a sickly spider web.

"How far has it gone?" I asked with dread, eyeing the terrible sight in front of me before I could stop myself.

Scorpious downcast his eyes for a moment, then scanned his own foot like it were some alien object. His voice was removed when he answered, almost like he was trying to be a spectator in this event instead of acknowledging that this crippling condition was his own.

"It's been consistent just around my ankle since Lady Strongfist and Lady Adria healed me after the initial fight, but it's spread to my entire foot in the past two days to what you see right now," he said distantly.

"Have you been drinking the potions?" I asked morbidly, knowing the answer already as the Elder pulled another vial from within his pocket, this one seemingly containing some type of long needle.

Scorpious pursed his lips. "Drinking them isn't exactly how this works," he said quietly as he eyed the needle the elder suddenly attached to the potion vial at the end. "But if you're asking me if I've been using them, the answer I'm afraid is yes," he said grimly.

"It's ready," Deckard Cain said gently. "Are you?" he asked Scorpious with a soft sincerity. "I'd advise you to look away, dear lady. You might find this sight quite unsettling," the elder warned me.

"Why's that?" I asked with a sinking feeling.

"What the Elder means to say is that this that this concoction is very painful when administered and the Elder knows as I do that as my friend, this might be difficult for you to watch," Scorpious clarified softly.

"I'll look away if you want me to," I said knowingly. My heart stung with renewed vigor as the scope of this treatment settled into reality. The demon ice itself must have been unbearable, but to have the treatment cause Scorpious excruciating pain as well was truly terrible. He never deserved such punishment in my opinion. I knew in my heart that this whole situation was already tough enough on Scorpious, and it might have been hurtful enough to him that I already had to witness this much.

"The choice is yours," Scorpious said honestly. "I have belief that you've probably seen worse, being the warrior that you are," he added respectfully. "Elder please proceed," my paladin friend requested sincerely.

Elder Cain stepped forward and brushed his aged thumb across the top of Scorpious' pale foot, anchoring one of the sickly black-tinted veins into place. With surprising accuracy and steadiness of hand, the elder swiftly inserted the needle into the vein. The pastel-shaded liquid began to drain from the vial into Scorpious' veins and as it did so I could see the anguish rush across my friend's face. His face contorted and he clamped down hard on his own lip to keep from crying out.

Seconds passed that seemed like hours and I could tell that the pain was immense. A trickle of blood started down from the center of Scorpious' lower lip and I was afraid that he'd bite through it with much more of this. I knew he must have been doing this for me. Putting up the fight, because I was there.

"Don't," I choked out painfully myself. "Don't hold back for me. I won't watch this anymore," I said quietly and swiftly turned away to allow him the privacy in which to express his misery.

The elder's vial still had one fourth of the serum left and it was at this point Scorpious completely lost the battle he was fighting to maintain composure. Apparently as if my permission was all he needed, pained cries of agony resounded through the room and echoed his misery in my ears and down to the soles of my boots. I was doubtful that anyone outside the room heard anything, the one mercy about this situation, due to the fact of the thunderous rain.

After the whole scenario was about to become too much for me to listen too as well, it ceased. Scorpious ragged breathing and creaking of his armor as his chest rose and fell told me that the ordeal was over.

I felt Elder Cain's hand approach my shoulder before it ever made contact. The old man's skin was surprisingly rough as his thumb grazed my neck in his reassuring pat. I turned around grimly to look at my paladin friend, there was sweat beading his brow, and he was slumped unceremoniously onto the wall behind his bed.

I looked upon him with pity as his breathing became more even and he seemed to relax some. I saw the quiver in his muscles still, and he closed his eyes. A dry laugh escaped his wounded lips and then he sighed.

"Well, if you don't mind me saying so, that hurt like a son-of-a-bitch. Sorry about that, Chyemme, I really am," he said with a dull humor and sincere apology.

I managed a weak smile at my friend's attempt at humor, then shook my head sadly. "There has to be an easier way. There just has to be. It can't hurt like that every time," I said ruefully.

Scorpious massaged the back of his neck and looked down at his foot, which hadn't changed in appearance in the slightest other than now having a deep and serious-looking bruising around the entry point of the needle. "I've been trying to find one, believe me, but right now I don't have the slightest idea," he admitted simply.

"I'll look into it myself," I said, suddenly overcome with determination. "There has to be something, if not to slow the ice, then to definitely ease the pain of this treatment," I vowed.

Scorpious gave me a small smile. "You do as you feel you must, I can't say that it wouldn't be appreciated," he answered in earnest. "Now then, allow me to explain, because I'm sure you have questions about what happened in the belly of the ship," he began, using the sheet of his bed to wipe his brow.

"You don't have to explain anything to me," I admitted, "those were your personal thoughts and in all reality you shouldn't have to justify them," I assured, thinking briefly back on Laurella's inappropriate use of inner sight back at Jerhyn's ball and feeling guilty for even accidentally using my gift on Scorpious.

"No, no," Scorpious said softly, "I think it might be best that I do," he insisted, "If nothing else, call it a bit of a possible last will and testament," he said with a somber expression. "If," he said quietly, "I don't make it through this next part of the mission, I would have wanted someone to know," he said in a morbid resolution. "Elder, I would ask that you stay and listen as well," Scorpious added.

I nodded in understanding, a feat the elder mimicked. "A clear conscience makes for a good pillow," I replied, making Elder Cain chuckle softly.

"A statement I was about to profess myself," the sage said with a smile.

Scorpious nodded as I took my seat in the chair and the elder sat on the edge of Scorpious' bed. "Now then," Scorpious began, "You both already know that I was once a paladin of the first order of Zakarum and unfortunately, a murderous member of their crusades. . . ." he started.

I sat patiently and listened as Scorpious recounted several of his crimes against humanity under the iron-will of the Zakarum crusades, and paid keen attention when he moved into explaining one of the scenes I'd seen from his mind.

"One of our missions," Scorpious explained, "was to eradicate the plague of undeath. By any means necessary," he added with a hint of sourness in his voice. "And as such, that mission sent us to a village deep in the eastern jungles named Bardinji. It was an ordinary enough assignment, I guess. Ride in, eradicate everything, and punish the unclean for their blasphemy and infidelity," he furthered.

I could clearly see the distaste on his face as he talked more in depth about these things, but there were also the traces of hope starting to enter in. "Everything changed for you there, didn't it?" I said knowingly.

Scorpious nodded stoutly. "It did. I was having doubts even before this mission, but it was there that they really started to take hold. I spoke with my mentor before the battle that occurred, a man named Khalim Valorwind. By the way, he is the man you saw from my mind," Scorpious clarified.

"I honestly can't say I've heard of him," I admitted, "But then again I haven't heard much offshore of the Amazon isles in all earnesty. You were very fond of him," I said, stating my observation.

Scorpious nodded and this time, a sincere smile spread across the entireness of his face, my guess was from the recollection. "Well, outside of the paladin order, I suppose he really wasn't a big deal. But anyway, yes I was very fond of him. I loved him like a brother and a father at the same time. Khalim was one of my very first teachers after it was ordained that I was to be given to the church when I was very young. He wasn't my only teacher, but he was my favorite. I grew up under him, and learned everything of what I hold dear mainly from him. He is a beacon of light, that man. Unbreakable light," Scorpious breathed in reverence. "But, that aside, I expressed my doubts, or the beginnings of them, to Khalim before the battle. I told him that I felt like we were killing more people than we were saving and that disturbed me. Understand this Chyemme, I'd never have said anything like that to anyone else. Khalim alone of everyone commanded that sort of trust from me. Speaking out against the crusade in those days yielded some. . .harsh . . . results," he said in displeasure at the last bit.

"Anyway, Khalim and I were resolved to speak about the matter after the battle. I followed my commanders into the town and we swept through the place more or less easily," he continued. "Understand that I also saw many people in the town I could save. I actually have the ability through prayer and cleansing to combat the first three of the five stages of the plague. I killed these people, like ordered, but the more of them I killed along with the true undead, the more and more I began to doubt. My commanders sent me and two others to the edge of the town to burn a segment of housing that remained. The place was next to a grave pit where they'd trying unsuccessfully to bury the dead. Needless to say there was a major battle between the three of us and the mountain of zombies that rose. Bardinji is actually the place when God taught me the use of the Sanctuary aura that I use around this group sometimes and it came from that battle there. Anyway after the battle, I burned the housing as ordered, but I saw two figures running into the woods. I wanted to make sure they weren't zombies I was missing that could come back to get us, so I followed them. I sent the other two people with me back to our commander to report in, so I was alone in this pursuit," Scorpious furthered.

"They weren't zombies.. . .they were children," I said putting two and two together.

Scorpious nodded. "They were. A boy and a girl. The boy had the very beginning of the plague and the girl wasn't infected at all. I actually thought about killing them, my orders were expressly to leave none alive, and I would have, until I saw the way the girl defended the boy. There was nothing evil about that. I looked at her and saw only love for her brother, and fear and rage for me. She called me a monster, and her words were like an arrow to the heart. They were true. At that point I was a monster. The change that took place in those few moments, I can't even begin to describe. But I knew that I couldn't kill them. Either of them. I was actually about to heal the boy and send them away in secret, but fate had other plans. My commander found us. He ordered me directly to kill them. I refused," Scorpious stated devoutly.

"He didn't take it well, did he?" I asked, already certain of the answer.

Scorpious shook his head. "No. In fact he ordered all the remaining men after the two of them while I engaged him in a battle. He tried to kill the boy, and I intervened. The strangest thing was, he was so strong, and I mean it was unnatural. Toorc was extremely powerful to begin with, but he actually bested me like nothing. He picked me up and started to choke me . . . and then I thought I heard . . . never mind," Scorpious dismissed quickly.

"I prayed hard to God for forgiveness and deliverance. I honestly expected to die right there in his grip. Point being," he started again, "I woke up in a Zakarum holding cell, pending execution. Apparently, someone or something attacked Commander Toorc and forced me free, though I was unconscious and I had no way of knowing for real what happened. To make a long story short, Khalim freed me in secret and arranged for my escape. It turns out that Khalim also had lost faith in the crusade, and had founded a new order of Zakarum in secret. It was there he sent me, and here I am," Scorpious explained. "He left me with this parting gift," Scorpious said fondly and removed the golden cross pendant from underneath his armor. "Belonging-wise, it's the most precious thing I own."

"The other man you saw from my mind," Scorpious informed, "Was Commander Kyeman of the new order. The image was of him the last time I saw him. Before you ask," my paladin friend said, reading the curious look on my face, "I will admit this to you freely; I feel guilt over what you saw because the orders I received on the document from Fara stated I was to return directly to the order without further delay," he admitted quietly.

I blinked, a stunned feeling sweeping through me momentarily. "You were supposed to return to the order? But you came with us anyway?" I asked in complete surprise. "You disobeyed an order from your new commander?"

Scorpious exhaled a heavy breath. "Yes. And that is the guilt you undoubtedly felt. Chyemme, we both know that I am dying. By the time I returned to our order's main base like instructed, I'd likely be dead or too far gone to be able to do anything useful. I want my last days, however many they are, to be serving God like I always have tried to do and not sitting in some cleric's office while everyone prods me for information that I can send in the written word. I'm a man of action, I always have been, always will be, I'll allow myself that much at least," he said truthfully.

"I wouldn't have done any differently," I admitted. "I agree with you entirely. I'd rather die in action than sitting on the bench," I continued, though I could hear the sadness still present in my own voice. I looked at him softly, knowing he had explained everything I saw, save one. And that memory didn't require any answers. "So you came to Kurast in the hopes of putting things right, however you can?" I stated, rephrasing what he had told me a few days ago.

"Not only that. I am hoping," Scorpious said in a distant voice, "That I will be able to reunite with my mentor, Khalim, here in Kurast. Perhaps he will be able to shed some light on the situation and possibly, even help me against Duriel's demonic ice. If nothing else, he would be an invaluable ally in our fight against Diablo and Baal," he confessed.

"I'd be honored to meet him," I said truthfully. "Especially if he's anything like you. Have you heard from him since you left the original Zakarum?" I asked curiously.

Scorpious shook his head. "No, but I know for good reason why that is. It's too risky. If the council caught him, there'd be hell to pay, literally," he said darkly. "Which is another thing," he added, becoming stiff. "Chyemme I have to warn you and I will warn everyone else, that Kurast and the surrounding jungles are home to the original order. It is highly likely that we will come across some of them," he admonished.

"Do you think they'll attack us?" I asked, becoming serious myself.

Scorpious looked me directly in the eyes, and it sent a chill down my spine. "In all honesty, I'm not sure. Most of them were decent men, but there were also a fair number of zealots that probably wouldn't think twice about cleaving us in half, especially if they recognize me. I think to be earnest, I'm going to wear my helm more often while we're out in this region," he stated gravely.

"A wise idea," I agreed. "Speaking of wise, Elder what do you think about all this?" I asked sincerely.

The Elder didn't answer me; he seemed to be deep in thought. One thing I had noticed during Scorpious' tales was that the look on Elder Cain's face seemingly became graver as they went on. I had a very clear feeling that he knew something he wasn't telling us, and it wasn't long before Scorpious voiced the question himself, having taken notice of the elder's expressions as well.

"Elder," he began at the end, "If I may, what's troubling you?"

Elder Cain didn't answer immediately, and the grim countenance lingered over his aged face for moments afterward.

I was beginning to think that he didn't hear the question and I opened my mouth to rephrase it, when he turned and gazed towards the doorframe of Scorpious' room. "I cannot say what burdens me in all honesty without first checking into its verifications. I will speak no untruths on matters as serious as these. I will be able to check the verity of my facts when we arrive in Kurast. I know another sage there from ages past and if he is still present, he and I will converse. Until then, my wisdom tells me I should remain silent. But," the sage began more gently, "Know that we are in no immediate danger and these matters are long standing," he comforted.

Scorpious and I nodded at the same time. My paladin friend shifted on his bed and turned to me. "Chyemme, you said you wanted to speak with me about your letter, or was that a lie in entirety?" he asked, slightly disapprovingly.

I sighed. "I wouldn't really know, I actually haven't read it yet. So I can't say that it was expressly a lie," I confessed with a slight pang of guilt.

Elder Cain looked to me curiously, studying me with his aged, brown eyes. "May I ask why not? You've had the letter for nearly four days," he reminded.

I nodded simply. "I know. But in all honesty, I've had other things on my mind. The first of which," I began hesitantly, feeling a tingle from Ahmad's pendant under my own armor, "Is the matter of this pendant," I finished. In all truth, the strange necklace seemed to actually have taken on a quality of living energy the closer to Kurast we became and I had yet to talk to anyone about it. I knew whatever counsel the elder had it would be safe in front of Scorpious should it need to be kept secret.

I carefully removed the feathered talisman from under my armor and showed it to the elder. He eyed it strangely for a moment, then motioned to me, asking permission to examine it. For some odd reason, I felt very protective over the piece even when I knew nothing about it, but at last I decided to hand it over to his expertise for a few moments. The second the object left contact with me, all odd, disembodied emotions I held vanished.

The elder held the necklace up to examine it more fully in the lamplight and both Scorpious and I watched in observant silence as the elder scrutinized every detail of the piece from the cord to the metal lattice and then finally the vibrant feathers. He rubbed his stubble over his chin in one hand as he handed the necklace back to me.

"Hmm," he mumbled more to himself than anyone. "That pendant has a remarkable energy, and to be quite honest, I believe that it is actually alive," he announced.

"Alive?" I asked, a mistrust starting to creep into my body over the object. "Alive how so?" I clarified, more direct this time.

The elder looked to me benignly. "Don't worry, Chyemme. I highly doubt that necklace is anything harmful and I guess I should have made myself clearer. It is not alive in the sense that you and I are, but rather, I gather, a part of something that is. It is a strange energy, and highly magical. The energy seems to be repellant to the element of lightning, I can see that much. But to be honest, even with all my knowledge I cannot say more than that. Perhaps, you could ask among your friends. I'd recommend that you ask Cloudyous about the feathers, perhaps he will know what animal they are from, and I'd also recommend you talk to your necromancer friend, Piricus. He might be able to tell you more about the life energy contained therein," the elder suggested.

"Life?" I asked confused. "I thought necromancers only dealt in death," I added.

The Elder shook his head. "The necromantic arts are but a balance between the two poles. To have death, there must also be life. All priests of Rathma understand this balance and without it, their arcane would cease to function. Perhaps Piricus could tell you more," he clarified.

"He could, but the question is, would he?" I asked aloud. "He's not the type to just answer someone's question; in fact he hates people to begin with. He'd probably curse me for asking," I said sarcastically.

"Anyone else, but you probably," Scorpious interjected somewhat comically. "I think he feels a fondness for you he will not admit to anyone else or even to himself."

Elder Cain nodded with a humored expression. "I agree."

I sighed. "He's got other things on his mind right now," I relayed, recalling our last conversation.

"If you don't want to speak with him, I know that Lord Cloudyous would probably be in a better disposition. Maybe you should speak with him first," Elder Cain suggested.

I nodded after considering to myself. "I think I will, but first I will read the letter from my homeland. I'll fill you in later if need be," I promised to Scorpious.

He bobbed his head dismissively, then rested his back against the headboard of the bed. "I think I'll pray for a while, and see if I can't recover some of my strength," he said simply.

"Rest well," I said softly. "Elder would you like me to escort you back to the others?" I asked politely.

Elder Cain shook his head. "No, dear lady. I think I should like to just stay and rest here a while," he said gently.

"I understand," I affirmed and listened to the soft sound of Scorpious' prayers as I made my way to his doorway. I could feel a spiritual energy alive in the room as I left, and I knew my paladin friend was healing himself as best he could.

To my fortune, the rain had dulled to a normal shower and the waves beneath the boat had become steadier. I had no trouble making my way back to my own cabin and I removed the parchment roll with the Amazonian seal from my trunk of belongings. I carefully unsealed the wax and untied the simple cord. I unfurled the paper and read in my mother's handwriting:

_Dearest Daughter,_

_It is good to receive tidings from you finding you alive and well. It has been some time since we received any news of you at all and I was starting to worry. I know better than to doubt in your skills, but I guess that's just the mother in me. I am pleased to know that you think of me often, and that I along with your people am still in your heart with your love. On a far less pleasant subject, I have given your news regarding the Prince of Pain and the movement of the Lord of Terror to our Queen and the rest of our tribal leaders. This bodes ill for all things in ways you cannot imagine, and I already know your mind must be pondering what is meant by this. I long to explain, I don't like leaving you in ambiguity, however strict sacred doctrines and the will of the tribal leaders has mandated that these matters are never discussed over a written document, lest it fall into the wrong hands. Seeing as your priestess training was never completed and you likely do not know the tenda-carvoss yourself, I urge you if at all possible to find a junta-devou that has gained your confidence, and we will speak over this matter in person. I have a feeling that one should become available very soon, if one isn't already present. Keep your eyes open my dearest daughter, and as always, be on your guard. I look forward to the day we will stand in each other's presence again._

_Love,_

_Sheltia_

I carefully re-rolled my mother's letter and retied the simple cord as I stowed the paper away in my trunk of belongings. I let the deep sigh I had been repressing all day escape without obstruction and in its absence my own weariness hit my being hard. I felt like I hadn't slept in weeks already due to all the ill-news and morose turn of events and this letter had been far from the spirit uplift I had been longing for. The letter now added even more to my troubled conscious, and with all the other boiling thoughts rolling around in my mind I knew it wouldn't be long before things sloshed over, like a pot too overfilled with stew.

My brain toiled over the words of my mother. It was certainly grave indeed for her to be requesting a tenda-carvoss, a ritual that would be best explained to an outsider with no mental gift as a "spirit-channeling". Inner Sight has long been a gift to the sisterhood, and given enough time and training, it was supposed to be so much more than just a sense of awareness or barrage of memories and insights. Priestesses of the gods and those of their bloodlines were supposed to be the Amazons with the strongest spiritual gifts, for obvious reasons. Our blood was rumored to have been suffused with the strongest spiritual energies from the very deities we served, to make us better vessels of their divinity and stewardesses over our ancient people. A fully trained priestess, as I knew in the case of my mother and the others and even some of the rogue sisters could eventually learn to mold that raw spiritual energy into actual living pathways, to connect and extend memory and vision from others into an actual tunnel linking the spirits of two people temporarily. It was through this pathway or the tenda-carvoss, that communication across great distances was possible, and an actual "in-person" meeting possible as well. Spirit to spirit knows no time or space, and nothing could be more personal than a direct linking into someone else's mind.

That said, the tenda-carvoss was extremely dangerous to those that don't know the proper methods and for those that leave their minds unguarded. Two people that don't know what they're doing could easily find themselves soul-locked inescapably together, attacked by malicious spirit demons or other "spirit-adepts" seeking access into the mind of one or both parties, stranded in the spirit realm by being locked out of their own physical body, or even die if the connection was abruptly or wrongly severed. I hadn't, due to various reasons, ever completed priestess training and the tenda-carvoss was beyond me. I didn't have the arrogance to try it uneducated when the results could be so disastrous and so my mother's other option was the only real one. I would have to find another spirit-adept or junta-devou as they are called by the Amazonian leaders that I trusted enough to form my side of the spirit-bridge between myself and my mother. And there was the real trouble.

Had circumstances been much different, the person that I'd have asked first was Maria because I knew she had a very real mental prowess and an extraordinary and rare gift. She could make the connection and guard me while the channel was open with ease. And before the whole incident in Lut Gholeign, I'd have trusted her completely to do such a thing for me. I felt a deep frown on my face as I considered the situation. Maybe Piricus was right all along; I really didn't have the grounds to trust even people I thought I knew well.

The second person I thought of was Lady Akara; I trusted her and respected her without question. I knew Lady Akara was definitely powerful enough and wise enough to make such a connection and she had said she was in our debt, so I highly doubted asking this of her would have been too great a burden. The only problem here was that she was thousands of miles away and so that wouldn't work at all.

The only other people I could vaguely imagine capable of such a thing that I also trusted were Vendra and Sovellis, but I had the instinct that their already- existent mental and physical tie would be an extreme complication if either of them and especially both at the same time, tried to help me in this matter. A four way soul channel was dangerous and extraordinary messy.

Truth be told, I had no assistance in this matter and it frustrated me. My mother told me that she had a feeling if I was stranded without a junta-devou that one would appear soon, but who in the world would I just willingly trust with something that large automatically after meeting them? I scowled and shook my head. I needed to think about something else for the moment, and it would be most conductive for it to be about the solution to one of my already-present problems.

A static-like tingle passed through Ahmad's necklace from the exotic feathers, giving me all the persuasion I needed. Ahmad asked me and my friends to find his cousin, Xialah and to bequeath this odd pendant back to her. Maybe by finding this person, if that were even possible, we'd also find some answers. The mercenary Captain of Lut Gholeign, Griez, had sent me a paper with the name and information of a friend of his that could possibly know this person, or at the very least, something about them. I shifted objects in my trunk around before pulling out the dull scrap from my herb pouch. I opened it and read:

_Go see Asheara Goldenvale upon your arrival in Kurast. She's the leader of the mercenary band, Iron Wolves, but she also spent a hell-ton time as the most successful bounty hunter the East has ever seen. She usually had a strong liking for ale, so my guess is check the tavern first. And Lady Amazon, make sure to tell her she's the biggest bitch in the pack for me. I've never been one for words, but what you're doing is for one of mine, so good luck in your endeavors ~ Griez_

I stowed that paper fragment too, and scuffed the bottom of my boot across my cabin floor in my own frustration. That didn't tell me anything concrete, it just added to the mysteries plaguing my brain. I decided that I was going to take the elder's advice and go speak with some of my fellow warriors. I also decided to see Cloudyous first, because I knew approaching Piricus in general was going to be difficult.

The rain was still coming down, but as more of a drizzling mist as I resurfaced onto the deck of the ship. I had the feeling Cloudyous might still be below deck so I headed in the general direction. I had gotten about halfway when Ryelass and Alminus came walking around the corner absorbed in conversation. I half-hoped that they wouldn't see me, but I had no such luck.

Ryelass smiled when he saw me and waved. He stepped away from Alminus' side and started toward me. "Hey, Chyemme, can we talk now? If you have time?" he asked politely.

"About what?" I asked, somewhat awkwardly. "Is something wrong?" I already knew what this conversation would be about.

"Well, yes and no," he began in earnest.

"Is everyone alright?" I asked instinctively, making sure that I didn't let assumptions get in the way of him telling me something that might have actually been an emergency.

"It's nothing dangerous, they're all fine in that regard," Ryelass assured sincerely.

"In that regard?" I asked, having a sinking feeling.

"Don' worry ter much," Alminus said, though with a somewhat irritated sigh. "It's jus' mainly Laurella. Heav'n knows y' tha hell she suddenly turned as nasty as a spittin' cobra cornered by a mongoose," he said simply.

Ryelass sighed deeply and his shoulders sagged. "Heaven has nothing to do with it Alminus. You know what happened," he said glumly.

Alminus shrugged his massive frame. "I know tha facts o' it yea, but tha thing m' findin' hard ter believe is tha' way she's actin'. It ain't li' 'er at all," he continued in worry. "I never figured 'er for tha' sort," he added quietly.

"Well, no one figured Maria for that sort either," I said sourly before I could contain it. The comment verbally contained Maria, but emotionally, my bitterness was meant for someone else. For some reason, even despite my better attempts to be the big girl here, I was beginning to feel a childish sort of anger towards Laurella for her juvenile comments and attitude earlier.

Ryelass looked me in the eyes apologetically, and then turned to peer into the undecipherable murky mist over the ship's railing. "Alminus, would you give us a few minutes, please?" Ryelass asked our large friend courteously.

Alminus nodded and wiped his massive hand over his blue facial tattoos and eyes, clearing the misty vapor from them. "Sure thing," he said dismissively and turned to walk back the way he came.

I tensed as he left and I watched his retreating form disappear into the opaque grayness. Ryelass faced me again and I felt myself take an involuntary step back. This was one problem I hadn't wanted to deal with any more today.

"Can it wait?" I blurted suddenly, looking at him apprehensively. "I actually need to—" I began without hesitation, thinking of Ahmad's necklace and the enigma surrounding it in attempt to subdue this current situation.

Ryelass' eyes narrowed, but there wasn't any harshness there as he continued to gaze at me unwaveringly. "Why are you avoiding me?" he asked directly, cutting straight through my attempt at politely saving-face.

I vaguely wondered if I should lie, making up some lame excuse or on the flip side, be brutally honest and risk hurting him. He seemed stable enough after everything that had happened, but I didn't want my rejection to be the switch that flipped him over the edge of sanity. And as Maria had demonstrated, even the most grounded people could snap. I settled for the truth, with a lot of omissions.

"Ryelass, I will be up-front about this. This entire situation with you, me, and Laurella is making life extremely awkward and complicated for everyone and frankly, I'm not sure how to make heads or tails of it. This situation is still "hot" if you will, and I want everyone to have some time, not just me, but you, and _especially _Laurella to really think and cool down before any major decisions are made or we even bring this up again," I expressed, remaining silent on any clue to my personal romantic feelings.

Ryelass didn't take his jade-colored eyes from mine when he answered. "So, you're saying you want more time before you even think about it at all?" he summarized.

I nodded firmly. "This isn't meant to shove this important issue aside, but I have a great deal of troubling things on my mind right now. This one will have to wait," I confessed genuinely.

Ryelass' expression turned uncertain. "Can I ask you, is it me, or Laurella that is troubling you about this?" he suddenly asked bluntly.

I was quiet for a mere moment and even in that time I could clearly see the passion in Ryelass' eyes about this issue. I was inwardly frightened, because apparently these emotions for me weren't a mere crush, there seemed to be something substantial to them judging by the look plastered all over his face. I knew that each second I didn't answer was bringing the painful truth closer to surface, merely by inaction. My inner sight, or perhaps just my frantic mind afraid of watching him descend into insanity with rejection like Maria, swiftly ordered me to lie. In the interest of Ryelass' emotional preservation, I obeyed.

"Laurella," I said convincingly, which in all honesty was not a complete lie. She was the biggest part of the headache, but Ryelass made me uncomfortable too.

Ryelass nodded, apparently satisfied with this and believing my half-truth. "I understand. I'm truly sorry about the way she's handling this. I agree with Alminus, I'm actually very worried about her," he said, changing topics.

I snorted, albeit softly. "You've nothing to apologize for about her. You're not Laurella and you don't control her behavior," I comforted in earnest.

Ryelass sighed reluctantly. "You're right, but I still know that I'm the prime cause of it, not you. This attitude towards you is unfounded and it upsets me," he admitted.

"Unfortunately it is what it is right now," I said with impatience, "That's why we ALL need to drop this issue for the next few days," I re-emphasized.

Ryelass nodded gently. "Fair enough. You said you had a bunch of other things on your mind. Do you want to talk about them?" he offered kindly.

I shook my head, not wanting to lay my own personal troubles over his own monumental ones. "Actually I need to be going now," I said honestly.

Ryelass frowned, but the gesture disappeared quickly. "I understand. Can I ask where you're going?" he added curiously, but I could tell that unlike before, the question was truly meant in an inquisitive nature and not a protective one.

I looked around next to me and quickly formed an idea, recognizing immediately where I was. "Actually, I'm already here. See you later," I said swiftly and hastily made to knock on the door. I was about to complete the motion, then thought better of it. My inner sight told me that the door was actually unlocked so I turned the handle and opened the door, slipping inside without another word, and curtly shut the door behind me before Ryelass could say or do anything else.

Water was still dripping from the multiple holes in the ceiling of his room, but looking around, I didn't see Piricus anywhere. It was a completely odd set of circumstances, owing to the fact I could never see Piricus leaving his door unlocked while he wasn't around. That was of course, unless it was a trap for someone.

"Piricus," I called out, trying to alert him to my presence, though I suspected he already knew I was there. Maybe he'd loosen up when he realized it was me.

The response I received was far different than I'd been expecting. My inner sight alerted me to a small, dart-like knife flying towards my face. I swiftly dodged to the left side, only to bridge over backwards to avoid three more that had been thrown to the right. I somersaulted over my own hands, flipping myself back on my feet as another projectile embedded itself into the floor where my boot had been.

I quickly blocked my face with my left bracer, and heard a hideous scraping of acid against metal. I could acridly smell the armor on my forearm begin to melt and realized that somehow, Adder's Vice was present on these projectiles.

While I had been distracted, I realized that three more darts had been thrown at my upper legs. I twirled my right leg behind me, twisting my entire body out of the path. Two more of these weapons flew at the side of the room I was turning into and I hastily twisted to the other side. I knew immediately that Piricus had nothing to do with this. For one thing, I didn't seriously think he'd attack me for walking in, and for another, if he wanted to dispose of someone; he was usually overt about it. No, it wasn't him, but there was another life force I could sense on the roof to the left, and this person was anticipating my moves. They were throwing the darts where I'd be likely to dodge. Clever, sneaky, and like a Viz-Jaq'Taar in every sense, but the question was, why the hell would they attack _me_?

I wasn't a mage in the least and as far as I was aware, I'd done nothing wrong. Well, I decided, as another deadly dart narrowly missed my ear, not yet anyway. I had no javelins; in fact I'd left all my weaponry in my own cabin. But, taking inventory as I looked around, I found a far more suitable weapon. Javelins were bulky and would be in poor taste here, where the space was confined. This assassin's own weapons however, would be perfect to fit through the small spaces in the ceiling. I rolled right, knowing that this assailant would throw a new batch directly into my reach as they thought I tried to dodge, and they didn't disappoint.

I took expert care not to grab the blades of the objects, which I knew sported Adder's Vice, and then hurled the tiny knives back through the holes they had appeared through in one solid motion. My attacker said nothing, but I clearly heard this person shift out of the way to the right of where I had thrown. Two could play at this game, I thought to myself and with my inner sight, I had a very clear track on this person's movements.

More darts hurled toward me and I decided to show this would-be assassin just how skilled I really was. Years of training in condensed spaces such as our jungle home on Skovas in combination with the foretellings of inner sight had taught me how to avoid missiles in tight places. I could sense the vibrations in the air of each of the four darts coming at me; I waited and at the last moment, caught two of them, and using those two, deflected the others.

The timing of this next move would be critical, but I tossed one of the knives at my unseen opponent to the right of me on the roof. Again, I knew that I had narrowly missed the mark, but I got a keen feel for this person's position. Another thing I realized about this assassin was that they lacked the finesse of experience. They were throwing these poisoned knives like rice at a wedding, leaving tangible evidence and wasting weaponry. Maybe the assassin was hoping to kill me, then clean up, but I was not going to give this person any such luck.

The next barrage of knives came hurling toward me and I put my plan into action. I used the cover of this person's own projectiles and tossed the one I had that retained into the path they had traveled.

This time, I heard a clearly audible hiss. The voice was male; I could tell that much, but other than that it was entirely unrecognizable. My inner sight told me that the projectile had just missed, but it had been extremely close for this unsuspecting person.

I smiled when the assassin played right into my hands, remaining in the same spot he had been. He was expecting me to think he'd move from that spot, knowing his position was a tactical advantage for me. He thought by staying still, I'd be caught off guard. He was sorely mistaken. "Surprise, surprise," I laughed sarcastically, not unlike Piricus would have. I activated the lightning energy I had stored into the metal knife and combined with the ample watery elements outside, it exploded in a firework display of electrical strikes.

I heard the anguished yell, and knew with no uncertainly the assassin wouldn't be bothering me anymore. I turned to leave quickly. If the assassin order had just attacked me so brazenly, then no one was safe. I had to warn the others. I ran to the doorway, and as I did, I had just enough time to realize my opponent had sent one last dart through the explosion that I wasn't going to be able to dodge. It was on course for my unarmored neck. I tried to maneuver to a different angle, but there wasn't enough time. I cursed myself for arrogance, it really did come back to bite you in the ass.

The door to Piricus' room broke into splinters and someone grabbed me, pulling me into them. I heard the same metallic shriek as the final dagger of the mysterious person embedded itself into someone's iron shield.

I heard a stout curse as Ryelass eyed the rapidly dissolving hole in his buckler. He must have known what was on the shield, because instead of throwing it to the ground of the ship, he hurled it like a discus over the railing into the water behind us.

He turned to me fiercely. "Chyemme, what the hell was that explosion just now? What's happening?" he asked quickly, releasing me from the defensive hold he had me in.

All awkwardness earlier was hastily put aside as my mind reshaped into battle mode. "I think the Viz-Jaq'Taar have found their way aboard the ship. I'm pretty sure that one of them just attacked me in there. We need to warn the others immediately!" I barked in urgency.

My warrior friend took in the information swiftly. "Then we'll split up, you go right I'll go left and we'll rally the others more quickly," he agreed as both of us ran onto the misty deck.

We didn't get very far. An enormous tremor rocked the entire ship violently, and both of us where thrown together into the outside walling of the ship. A loud cry, like an eerie screech and low note of music combined sounded all around us.

"What's happening?" I cried out in alarm, knowing that the new occurrence wasn't human.

"I don't know," Ryelass said, frantically searching the omnipresent grayness for any signs of an opponent.

A large, dark mass came thundering towards us through the obscure oceanic mist, shaking the deck as it went and by the time I realized it was Alminus, I'd almost tackled him. I had his large arm in my grasp, getting ready to toss, and apparently he'd been about to strike me with his axe in his own confused defense.

He stood down immediately, shock written all over his tattooed features. "Chyemme? Ryelass? Buddy, wha's goin' on?" he asked Ryelass in confusion.

"Alminus, where did you come from?" I asked, deductively.

"I wers headed ter the lower deck when I saw tha explosion n' headed this way damn quick after that," he explained quickly.

"Did you see what-?" I started to ask as another violent collision sent shockwaves through the wooden deck, this time from the opposite direction.

Alminus grabbed my wrist in one hand and Ryelass' sleeve in the other, pulling us both back to safety with his massive strength as the motion attempted to throw us both through the air and overboard into the water below.

"No, Chyemme. I don' have tha slightest idea wha's hittin' tha ship," he finished seriously.

"I do," came an icy voice I'd recognize anywhere as Piricus seemingly melded out of the thick mist into our midst.

"Piricus?" I asked in true bewilderment. Could this scene get any stranger?

"Back away from the railing, imbeciles, it's the last place you want to be," Piricus said plainly and suddenly the gray murk was alive with necromantic green. Piricus' arms burst into a powerful death-imbued fire as his demonic emerald gaze pierced into the air around us menacingly.

"What's going on Piricus?" I asked swiftly, regaining my own footing.

"I'm having a Trag 'Oul-damned sense of déjà vu," he growled fiercely as a humungous, tubular appendage covered in moss and decay, belonging to some bizarre sea being crashed over the side of the railing we'd been standing by a second ago and latched on.

I was completely wrong. Things had definitely gotten more bizarre.


	4. Chapter 4

AN: Sorry for the long delays everyone, I have had friends and family visiting left and right, MANY out of state trips with no access to comps and lots of good times going around. Thanks for everyone reading and reviewing, you guys are the best!

Disclaimer: I do not own Diablo or Diablo 2; I'm just messing around in their world for fun. All copyrights are still in effect and belong to Blizzard Entertainment.

Homecoming

Piricus

"Piricus, wha' tha hell 'r 'ese things?" the barbarian demanded of me swiftly as a rotting tentacle of flesh whipped over the deck railing, narrowly missing his left arm.

He reacted without waiting for me to even breathe an answer to his question. Like the overeager fool he was the barbarian wasted no time in returning a retaliatory strike against the demon's appendage with the broad blade of his axe. The amount of sheer strength behind the barbarian's blow was effortless, and the blunt force of such a strike normally would have been enough to cleave a pile of granite blocks in half. Normally. I knew better of these creatures.

Like I expected, the barbarian's blow hit the river demon's rubbery exterior and bounced off harmlessly. The recoil from the rebounded hit was enough to actually make the blockhead barbarian stumble back a few heavy steps.

The amazon, whom I noticed conveniently had no weapons herself, reached out to steady the barbarian as he stumbled toward her. It was at this precise minute that another unseen attack pitched the ship dramatically to the right, sending both of them onto the deck in a heap of limbs.

The warrior on the other hand, whom was naturally more steady in his footing had managed to stay upright. He eyed the river demon's tentacle ensnared around the deck railing with a calculating glance before his enchanted sword sparked to life in his grip.

"Try this, fish freak," he growled and plunged the coursing blade into one of the decaying, skinless wounds on the creature's hide.

Tactically I understood what he was trying to accomplish: by aiming for an area that had no fleshy covering, he guaranteed his strike an entry to his enemy and was hoping to fry the thing. What a clueless moron. That attack wasn't to grant him any more success than the barbarian had; in fact I knew that it was going to backfire.

I watched as the attack meant to electrocute the demon did little more than fizzle once the weapon bit flesh; the sickly, plagued tissue absorbed the shock with an unsightly writhing of blackened, decayed muscle. The ocean water that adorned the monster's outer layers of tissue began to sizzle, with the droplets vaporizing into steam. I didn't need to be a druid or a genius to see know what would be coming next. In all honesty, I was hoping the fool wouldn't notice and get himself blown to smithereens. It would make my life all the easier and more entertaining.

The amazon, whom had managed to at least crane her neck out from under the barbarian's mass, must have also recognized what was about to take place when the liquid water in contact with the creature on the deck started to boil.

"WATCH OUT!" she yelled aloud in alarm, though her voice was diminished as she struggled under the barbarian's bulky frame.

The warrior instantly alerted to her warning, he yanked his sword roughly out of the monster's mass and dropped hastily to the deck, covering his head under his hands like a defenseless newborn. How quaint and pathetic, but this too served a purpose for my own ends and I wouldn't have it any other way. I had another reason for wanting everyone else out of the picture for this event, warrior or otherwise. These damned, slime-coated water worms were mine. And mine alone. I had figured out immediately what they were the moment I heard them and their eerie humming below the water. I'd already lived through this affair once before. And once was enough. I had finally returned to Kurast after a Trag 'Oul damned long time, and how appropriate it was these grime-encrusted snakes should be the first things I encountered when they were the first demons to attack me on this ill-destined voyage to begin with. It was time for payback. It was time for my vengeance to begin, and believe me when I say this party is just getting started.

The explosion was nanoseconds away from occurring and I looked at the warrior's hunkered form with loathing. You'll never catch a Priest of Rathma cowering on the floor, and especially not one as pissed off as me. Months of unspent ire came flooding to the forefront of my mind once more as I glared at the sea creature, and every tiny portion of rage and frustration over the night that sent me on this cycle of refuse to begin with resurfaced with fury. Time for a life lesson, as I felt my arcane energies bound through my arms in abundance. Payback's a bitch.

I focused intently on several, visible portions of bone contained within the creature's anatomy and yanked mercilessly on them projecting spirit energy with my right hand. Simultaneously I cast a vengeance-driven decripify curse into the already decomposing flesh with my left hand. The bones I targeted pried loose of the living creature easily with the powerful combination of magics and rocketed in front of me to form an encompassing shield as the entire upper portion of the monster's tentacle disintegrated from the potency of my curse. The living debris that was the river demon bubbled grotesquely before it exploded into a ring of redirected electrical current.

Safe behind my shield of live bones, I only felt a slight breeze. The worst injury I received was to my nose, the stench was foul. It was a disgusting concoction of decay, demon blood, smoke, burning flesh, and odiferous, stale saltwater musk. The critically maimed river demon somehow still seemed to be alive even after having half its body blown off and the bones sucked from its vitalized frame. It broke the ocean's churning surface shrieking its shrill anguish to the watery winds like a banshee, flailing the mutilated remains of its unnatural lower half.

Like any dying fish, its thick mouth began to gasp wildly and I recalled with venom in my veins how the same maw had attempted to engulf me last time I was in this region. Luckily for the monster, I'd been rendered unconscious just after entering the water; otherwise I'd have finished it off then. The demon wasn't going to be that fortunate this time around. If it thought it was in agony now, it was sorely mistaken. Ripping its bones out while it was still alive and rotting the thing's useful flesh off its body was just the start of what I would unleash.

My dedication to my revenge swirled through my mind and down through my casting arm. Emerald energy, mixed heavily with my burning malice and beaming equally as strong rolled off my arms in opaque waves. I crafted the poison bolt expertly in my palm; it was a simple spell and one that I had learned early on, but it would be a fitting end to this monster. I knew with little uncertainty as I watched my own resonating auras on my arms that I was starting to display my true power, a part of my identity as the Emerald Prince, but I didn't care. I wouldn't be denied the pleasure of dealing with these roaches any way I saw fit.

I eyed the tormented snapping of the demon's razor-lined jaws and timed my attack perfectly. I launched the venomous missile along with my vendetta as a radiating emerald star that pierced even the dark storm clouds with their necromantic light. The doomed beast swallowed my magic in its gapping mouth before vaporizing along its entire remaining length into fleshy, grey mist moments later. Its anguished wails abruptly ceased, lighting a genuine, sadistic smile that I could feel on my own lips. It was a strange sensation and the muscles above my mouth twitched uncomfortably. I thought briefly about how long it had been since I actually smiled last and after a minute, I realized that I couldn't remember and that it didn't matter. I was smiling now.

"No one messes with me, bottom feeder," I announced to the sinking remains darkly, though sincere satisfaction was starting to wash through me. I knew that I wouldn't be truly satiated until I ended Mephisto, but this was undeniably a good start.

Another demon, seemingly drawn by the dying sounds of the first, suddenly thrashed out of the water spitting a voluminous semi-solid mass of some foul-smelling and no doubt poisonous throat secretion aimed for my body.

Unimpressed by the rudimentary toxins I sensed within the demon's lugie, I allowed the wad of excrement three feet away from my body before I necromantically rearranged the chemical compounds with my own energies and took control of the mass of spit. I enhanced the already existing components into a more virulent mixture with the catalyst being, justly in my mind, the demon's own vile saliva.

"Eat this," I smirked with vengeful mirth and promptly dispatched the spit-wad back at the demon's throat. I watched with pleasure as the acid-like pH of my organic missile ate a hole through the monster's skin and corroded through its trachea, causing immediate suffocation of the most dulcet variety and subsequent combustion as the toxins mixed with more of the demon's own poisons and became volatile.

I nodded to myself, gratified in the work I'd done so far, and scanned the waters below. The assaults against our ship seemed to have stopped, but I knew better. There had been at least three of those damned things I had detected. Right on cue, our vessel trembled dangerously beneath our feet and even the deaf could hear the splitting of wood below. Our boat started to slide forward roughly as the third demon rammed into it from the stern. The entire vessel pitched starkly downward with another attack and I realized that the damned creature was trying to capsize us.

I hadn't paid any mind to the other mass of people aboard the ship before now, but I began to distinguish their confused and frenzied yelling as crew members and passengers alike tried to counteract the swiftly deteriorating situation. It wasn't long before several loud bangs were sounding off from all directions, signaling heavy cannon fire. Idiots. I sincerely doubted that they could even see the noses on the ends of their faces, much less a demon lurking in black water underneath a shroud of opaque mist. They were firing blindly out of fear, and the demon's hide was like firing into a springboard.

It didn't take long before the useless cannon balls started rebounding off the demon's hide and landing back onto the already damaged ship. The ill-used artillery bombarded the deck, exploding upon contact to the random locales they had been thrown onto. Perfect. The work of the mentally incapacitated had now placed pits in the surface of the ship in addition to the gargantuan ones that I already knew to be present below. A spring of water leapt into existence at my feet, welling saltwater over my boots from a hole in the deck board. I swiftly came to the grim assessment that the ship must have already taken on a considerable amount of water; the lower levels must have been substantially flooded for water to be coming up through the deck. Very soon, there wouldn't be a ship left to stand on. My mind also turned its attention gravely to the case of Adder's Vice I had stowed in my room behind us. If the ship went under and the Adder's Vice reacted with the water, there wouldn't even be an ocean here anymore. This part of Sanctuary might blow so clear we'd enter hell from the topside. This demon needed to die, and quickly. I hadn't come all this way, gone through all this shit, and gotten this close to returning home just to be killed by my own trade supplies.

I heard a crunch as the river demon, still submerged in the water and still unseen, punched another crater in our hull. Instinct, and perhaps the rate we were sinking to water level told me that one more hole would likely be fatal.

I formulated a quick plan, and after considering the angles, realized I had a problem. My curses weren't as powerful as my poisons were, and this would require much more precision. In addition, I would only have one shot to do this right. The worst problem with my plan? I needed to ask someone for help. My insides churned defiantly at the idea, but my logical mind knew without her inner sight this wasn't going to work. I struggled with the concept fiercely for a moment, having to rely on someone else was difficult and my pride had never allowed for it before. But, I was not going to die here, and furthermore, if the ship sunk I'd also lose all the supplies Lord Rathma had ordered. No, I decided sternly. Personal pride would in no way justify a failure to Lord Rathma. Even death would be inexcusable. The necessity of the situation required it, so I did something that I never had before. I swallowed my pride. Well, I caught myself admitting in my own mind, at least it was her and no one else. Especially not the paladin.

"We're going to sink if we don't do something fast!" the warrior growled in alarm, having found his feet. He stomped down on a spurting leak in vain, water sprayed over the area regardless.

"No, imbecile, we won't," I proclaimed coldly, with a solid determination. "Get off of her, you useless blight, you're hindering progress," I snapped to the stunned barbarian as I yanked his massive arm with difficulty, rolling him aside and disentangling the amazon from his bulk. "Amazon," I said nonchalantly as she returned to her feet with a questioning look.

"What do you need?" she asked without hesitation, seeming to instinctively know that I required her assistance.

I scowled in displeasure, though cut straight to the point. "Amazon, I want you to use your inner sight or whatever you call it to find that demon. Tell me when it's about to strike this floating woodpile again and what direction its coming from," I instructed, choosing intently the word "want" instead of "need".

"Wha' exactly 'r ya planning?" the barbarian asked as he looked between the two of us dubiously.

"No time, muscle-head. Either she does this or everyone dies," I snapped nastily.

"Well if that happens, thankfully it would include you," the warrior replied spitefully, finding his own feet once more. "Who are you to order—"

"Enough," the amazon reprimanded. "Everyone move aside and be still," she commanded. "And be silent," she added harshly. "This is going to be hard enough as it is, with all the other energies, people, and animals present below," she insisted sternly.

The amazon quickly brushed past the warrior on her way to the demolished railing and peered intensely into the churning, dark water below. She squinted her cerulean eyes before closing them, reaching out with her intriguing metaphysical senses. I could tell right away that there must have been a large amount of interference; her face tensed and her eyelids began to twitch.

I focused on the amazon and waited for that precise moment her visual trail would begin to appear. A trail of water was sliding down her armored back from the end of her soaked blonde ponytail, and as if the water had taken on a spiritual life, white-blue stars began appearing from within them. This small manifestation followed the path down her back, onto the deck, and then disappeared into the hole-ridden floor, becoming brighter and more substantial with each passing second. She was absolutely silent for several tense moments, tracking her quarry through its spirit. Her eyes snapped open with a reflection of powerful white-blue light within them, signaling with no uncertainty she had the information I needed.

"It's coming from the right, about forty-five degrees diagonal to us. It's going to strike approximately four feet over to our left and seven feet down. On my count," she announced to me hurriedly. "One," she said steadily, with her inner sight starting to become visible away from the ship. "Two," she continued as her psychic stars started to illuminate the form of the serpentine demon closing in on us through the murky depths. "Three!" she declared urgently as the monster lunged from the water, aimed precisely for the amazon's predicted area, seemingly also the only undamaged place left on our ship.

I moved into position carefully, gripping the wooden railing in front of myself, just above the trajectory of the attacking demon. I channeled my curse through my fingers with a powerful spite into the wooden frame of the ship and passed the current down through the timbers to the side the creature was about to strike. The demon's gargantuan face had barely made contact with the woodwork when the curse took its full effect, initiating my plan with a fury.

The demon's slight tap was still powerful enough to rattle our surroundings, and I skidded to the right a minor amount, but maintained my footing. Other than shaking us a little, we were unharmed. The same couldn't be said for the demon. The force of the blow it had intended for our ship turned against it, and as it touched our vessel, my iron maiden curse crushed the creature's skull to dust. The demon's lifeless body slid off the side of the ship like a grotesque, melting icicle and disappeared into the depths below with a slosh.

"Universal rule everyone," I informed the silenced party members around me sinisterly, "What goes around comes around. Remember that," I added with a sincere grin.

A loud, resounding crunch sliced the thick and soundless atmosphere, reverberating in our ears as the hull beneath us broke open and flooded with water. Damn it all, the demon must have nicked a structurally crucial part of the framework, and that last strike, small though it was, had enough power to break the already maimed woodwork.

"Yeah. Seems that way, doesn't it?" the warrior snorted to me sarcastically as cascades of water sprayed from every cavity that had been created in the recent battle.

The ship pitched sharply downward and I could feel the gravitational pull of the murky depths below. I had only seconds before the Adder's Vice would inevitably mix with the water and combust. Maybe if I hurried I could encase my trunk in the remaining bones of my shield and possibly prevent the explosion that would be my end for sure.

I shoved past the barbarian on my way to my cabin, noticing immediately that somehow the door was no longer present; it looked as if it had been broken down. I didn't have time to dwell on this right now; I had more pressing matters to address. My boots splashed through the rapidly accumulating seawater, slowing my progress considerably. An icy vapor passed over my skin, alerting me at once to the presence of another mage. The vapor quickly solidified into a coating of ice that swept across the entire expanse of the deck, plugging the smaller holes and to my great irritation, freezing my waterlogged shoes to the surface of the wood.

"Where are you headed to in such a hurry, jackass? Forget to dry your laundry?" the sorceress' nagging voice taunted sarcastically. "If you're that eager to abandon ship, you could always just jump," she added mockingly.

"Well, freezing his feet is counterproductive to that suggestion," the warrior reminded, eyeing me crossly.

"Take that up with Cloudyous, he's the one who did that," the sorceress replied casually, moving aside to reveal the form of the druid with icy wind and watery energy swirling around his body like an aqueous tornado.

He grinned sheepishly. "Sorry about that, but your feet where over a hole and we're on a limited time schedule," the druid apologized lightly.

"More so than you think, imbecile," I snapped quickly.

"I say so," the deep voice of the sorcerer exclaimed in alarm. "Fiesty one, Cloudyous! Here quickly!" he urged, catching notice of the quickly collapsing hole my last demon victim had caused.

"What exactly are you going to do? Sew up the ship?" I growled at the trio crossly as I vaporized the ice gluing me in place with acidic poison I channeled through the soles of my shoes.

"Watch and learn, jackass," the sorceress assured as she stepped into position beside the sorcerer. She joined her lightly-colored hand into the sorcerer's dark one and together they began weaving a spell with an enormous amount of energy. The druid waited a few moments, and then entered into their magical chorus, chanting in a different arcane tongue.

The ship creaked and then groaned as the trio of magi's arcane weavings began to take form. The water rushing into the ship began to mystically peel away from the wall and the exposed gaps crystallized, filling from the outside edges inward with thick, interlocking layers of ice. The ice effectively sealed the monstrous hole, and seemingly in a second, the ship righted itself in the water, becoming steady once more. My guess was that the magi must have already used this magic on the other holes of the ship, which would explain their absence during this encounter.

I relaxed, though reluctantly. It seemed there was no need to reveal the case of Adder's Vice or the danger it posed after all. It was safe, for the moment. No longer needing them for outright protection, I casually reformed the revolving bones of my shield into a thick breastplate, pauldrons, and bracers over my robes. I might not have needed them now, but perhaps I would later.

The sorcerer and sorceress simultaneously wiped their sweat-stained brows as their spell ceased. A smile of conquest crossed the female mage's face, and through their soul connection, or perhaps of his own accord, a triumphant grin mirrored onto the sorcerer's countenance as well.

"That wers pretty impressive, but ya missed all o' tha' action. That wers 'ere on our end," the barbarian stated, nodding his approval for the three arcane user's handiwork.

"What action are you talking about, barbarian?" I corrected bluntly. "From my standing all of you were gracing the deck with your useless masses."

"Don't speak to him like that," the warrior snapped with fire.

"He has no room to talk, it's the truth," I countered snidely. "How many of those pathetic sea-snakes did you kill again?" I remarked pointedly.

The barbarian lowered his tattooed head shamefully. "Yeah… so wha' were they exactly? Ya didn' seem ter have too much trouble with 'em," he grumbled.

The sorceress raised a cocoa-colored eyebrow. "Wait—Alminus are you saying that Jackass killed all of those things by himself?" she snorted incredulously.

"You swallow too much water?" the sorcerer agreed comically, eyeing the newly repaired hole in the hull with disbelief.

"No," the amazon assured adamantly on my behalf. "He really did kill all of them himself. I saw it. It was…something else," she finished cryptically after a moment's pause. She locked her eyes into my own and I knew with no uncertainty she had noticed the gross power difference I had displayed in my earlier battles. I also could tell with no difficulty that she was keenly interested in talking to me about it. That curious light danced and bubbled behind her eyes, giving rise to my own irritation, but for some reason, also a sense of slight intrigue. I had a feeling she wanted to talk about more than what she had just witnessed.

The amazon broke her eye contact with me, and her expression darkened as she glanced around.

"Chyemme?" the druid asked her cautiously, becoming the first to respond to her visual disturbance aloud.

"Has anyone seen Scorpious or Laurella?" she asked pointedly.

"Both are fine. Scorpious help on bridge of ship, Laurella with Captain Meshif," the sorcerer reassured her.

"What's Laurella doing with the Captain? She's not hurt is she?" the warrior asked in concern.

"She's fine. She's actually helping Captain Meshif get back on course. She's using her inner sight to guide us towards Kurast. When all this chaos started and those rotting demon eels started poking holes in the ship Sovellis and I knew we could use our telekinetic powers jointly to push the water out and keep us from sinking. Cloudyous was with us and he said he could tap into the arctic wind and use ice energy to seal the gaps behind us, so that's what we were doing. Scorpious was actually on his way to find you guys to deal with the creatures. I guess the demons found you first," the sorceress relayed in earnest.

"A bad decision on their part," I grinned cruelly. "Amazon, why don't you tell the lot of us what it is that has your face scrunched up like a skunk-hound? It's definitely not doing you any beauty favors," I suggested directly, not caring an instant for the sorceress' idle prater.

The amazon looked at the warrior for a moment grimly, and I noticed he too had a serious expression. He nodded to her as she turned her attention back to us.

"I don't know how else to say this, so I'll just be blunt. I was attacked by one of the Viz-Jaq'Taar just before the demons appeared," she informed gravely with no detectable trace of deceit whatsoever in her voice.

This news caused my good spirits to come to a screeching standstill. I scrutinized every inch of the amazon's face, but it seemed like she really was telling the truth or perhaps just the truth as she perceived it to be. I felt my inner being shift restlessly, the slicked rage returning to shimmer just under the threshold of my emotional control. Murders. Ignorant blights. The very thought that one of them could have been concealing themselves on board was infuriating, but also highly probable and logistical given the circumstances. I wasn't surprised there was an assassin here, but I was astonished that one had apparently attacked the amazon. Why would they go after her? What connection did she remotely have to any arcane ability? I could easily rationalize the assassin order going so far as to make an attempt on the druid or maybe even the paladin for his magics if they had gone totally askew, but why the amazon?

I thought briefly about the matter and came to the conclusion that Darius might have been right. The only plausible motive for the Viz-Jaq'Taar to attack the amazon short of their entire order coming mentally unhinged was because she had been equated with the Priests of Rathma, and more than that, equated with me.

My mind turned corners in an unsettling mood. I didn't have a doubt in my mind that the amazon knew nothing of consequence about my order or about my identity. Nothing the assassin order could make use of anyway, so in all truth, should she be captured or interrogated I was in no danger. The same couldn't be said for the amazon if the entire assassin order believed otherwise. Her life would be constantly threatened. She would be hunted—and seemingly had been—just like me. How ironic. What I had been trying to tell her all along had become reality. Her stupid crush on me had become the most costly mistake she'd likely ever make.

So what was to be done? I'd already warned the woman countless times about her own safety and it was blatantly obvious that she, like the paladin, held no sense of self-interest. She knew the risks, and for some reason I'd never be able to fathom decided to take them. My mind returned sourly to the topic of trust as I thought of my journey with the amazon and everyone else. My tactical sense of self-preservation told me that, especially with what the amazon had witnessed a few minutes ago with the river demons, it would be wise, before I dismissed her as harmless, to find out just how much she actually knew about me. Yes, that would be the most efficient way to go about things. I would speak to the amazon, gather what she knew, and then make any decisions about her based on that. It would require a private conversation, thought I highly doubted she would object. It would also have to be something initiated outside the awareness of the others, meaning it would have to wait, most likely until we could dock.

The amazon's confession didn't sit well with any of the others either it seemed, least of all the two Zhan-Esu magi and the druid.

"Are you absolutely sure, Chyemme?" the druid asked quietly, a sincere concern crossing his face.

"Yes," she reaffirmed crisply. "The body might actually still be there," she continued.

"You kill assassin?" the sorcerer asked slowly, suddenly very somber.

"It was either that, or die myself," the amazon snapped defensively. "I'm not allowed to defend my own life?" she continued briskly.

The sorceress shook her head, a sour scowl on her face. "No, that's not what he meant, Chyemme. I think I speak for the both of us when I say that you fighting back is not only acceptable in every way, but justified. Between us, if one of those bastards tried to kill you, I'm glad you got them instead," she assured, gaining an appreciative nod from her male counterpart. "I'm just saying that if you—"

"Killed one, regardless of reason, more will come to avenge them. Pathetic, isn't it?" I finished for the sorceress darkly.

" 'is don' make any sense," the barbarian said with a confused blink. "Y' would n' assassin be tryin' ter kill ya, Chyemme?" he asked dubiously.

"That is the mystery, isn't it?" she answered curtly. "Especially seeing as this seems to be an experience unique to me. They didn't attack any of you," she furthered irritably.

"We don't know that for certain. Scorpious or Laurella might have had something happen," the druid suggested reasonably, though I could see the vivid unease behind his eyes.

"Cloudyous," the amazon started darkly, turning to the druid, "Can you have Sky or Belthem check the top of this section of cabins? See if they can find any traces of a body and if they do, see if they can track the scent anywhere else on board?" she requested grimly.

The druid nodded in reply. "That would be a wise idea, I think; though I doubt with the rain and waters any distinguishable scent would remain. Speaking of which, I think I will have Gaia try for a scent, her sense of smell is greater than the wolves'. I'll also send Bibo for an aerial view; see if she can see anything. While we do that, someone should check in with Scorpious and Laurella, possibly even Captain Meshif as well," he advised wisely.

"We'll go find Scorpious and fill him in," the sorceress offered.

"Take the easy way out, why don't you?" the amazon breathed sarcastically.

"I'm not ready to deal with more of Laurella's brattiude," the sorceress responded comically. "I think Alminus would be the best person for that," she suggested.

The barbarian nodded. "Yeah, she'll prolly be more reasonable with me," he agreed.

Within moments, it was just the warrior, the amazon, and me. She looked between the two of us awkwardly, then rapidly excused herself from our midst before either of us could say anything else. I expected the warrior to leave immediately thereafter, but he lingered, staring at me icily.

"What are you looking at small fry?" I growled in displeasure, turning to enter my cabin.

"I know what happened," the warrior continued with suggestive animosity.

"What are you talking about, half-pint?" I scoffed irritably, not caring one way or the other for the warrior's theories or even the fact he was speaking. I didn't even turn around as I continued to my destroyed doorway.

"She was in your room when that assassin attacked her. I saw the tail end of the fight. They're associating Chyemme with your sorry ass. That's what caused this," he furthered with ire.

I paused in my doorframe. Well, there was a fact she conveniently neglected to mention. What in the name of Trag 'Oul was the amazon doing in my room? I sighed heavily. Why should that come as a surprise? I was constantly finding the amazon in places she shouldn't be.

"And your point in this, idiot? Are you implying that other than someone trespassing in my private space I should care about this incident involving the amazon? What happens to her doesn't concern me," I answered bluntly, though not entirely honestly. She could potentially know quite a bit that could concern me. In either case, my tone was apathetic, and the warrior bought it as genuine, as I intended.

The warrior's boots swished through the water as he moved quickly toward me. I turned around in time for him to seize my shoulders, just under the pauldrons in a fierce grip. The look on his face would rival an ornery ostrich interrupted mid-mating season.

"She now has assassins after her because of you!" he snarled venomously. "And if anything," he hissed dangerously, "and I mean ANYTHING happens to Chyemme, I will gut you myself without another word," the warrior declared fiercely.

"Get your inferior hands off me, moron. I won't tell you twice," I stated nonchalantly and channeled a tangible acid into the lingering sea salt adorning my robes. This would definitely give him something to think about for the next two or three hours at least.

I anticipated that his burning flesh would cause him enough pain to relinquish his iron grip on my shoulders immediately; that particular toxin, even mild, stings like an entire swarm of bees at once. The warrior surprised me; instead of letting go, he dug his filthy hands deeper into the poisonous cloth of my robes, even when his palms started to steam.

"If you want to keep your hands, I estimate you've got about two seconds to let go," I insisted plainly, pouring more energy into the mix.

The warrior hissed angrily before shoving my entire body roughly against my doorway as he released me.

"I don't care who you think you are, you're not nearly as dangerous as I'll be if Chyemme gets hurt because of you. Something to think about," he said in a baleful growl as he lifted his cracked and blistered hands to my face without so much as a flinch, "I'm a lot tougher than you think. You haven't seen anything yet," he added menacingly before walking away stiffly.

"Neither have you," I assured darkly under my breath as he left. I made to finally enter my room. I wanted to check on the Adder's Vice and survey the amazon's supposed battle scene, but I was interrupted once more by the piercing echo of the ship's bell. It clanked harshly three times and was followed by a loud sailor's yelling:

"LAND! LAND HO! ALL HANDS PREPARE FOR PORT DOCK!"

I couldn't deny this was a welcome bit of news. "Home sweet home," I mumbled sarcastically under my breath, walking into my room to prepare my things for immediate departure. I'd snag the amazon somewhere at the docks, talk to her, deal with her one way or the other, and then return as swiftly as possible to my order.

I blinked as I looked around. The entire room looked like a literal storehouse for knives, several small, dart-like rondels were scattered all around. Another recent development seemed to be the holes that peppered my ceiling and floor. Despite the recent battle, there were holes that appeared older than the rest. I also noticed immediately that a large selection of the holes on the floor had been corroded away at a rapid rate. It was the definite and distinguishable characteristic of Adder's Vice. I scowled and rapidly ran to the place I had formerly secured my trunk, pulling it out onto the damp floor and undoing the latch.

I scanned the contents quickly, taking inventory. To my relief, nothing was missing and the superior quality of the cloth from my evening wear had absorbed the vast quantities of water the trunk had been exposed to during the storm and sealed them out. The Adder's Vice was completely secure and dry.

"Well, that's good news," I laughed to myself dryly. At least one damned thing had gone right for me on this forsaken venture.

I closed my trunk and as I did so, I felt a powerful tingle course over and seemingly through me. This new sensation didn't appear to be evil in origin or composition, but it wasn't any energy pattern I recognized either. Whatever this was, it appeared to be magical in origin, and I could tell that it was very old. The tingling, vibrant sensation had gone through me without hindrance; if I had to guess I would say that this was some type of protective warding that I had just passed through.

Moments passed and as I could feel the ship slow, several people began to rouse on deck and become active in docking duties. The ship creaked, as if in protest to the halting of movement and finally groaned to a stop. When I was absolutely sure we had stopped moving, I grabbed my trunk by the handles and swiftly surfaced onto the deck. Crewmembers and deckhands were securing various ropes and latches, and several more sailors were above in the damaged netting, folding the tattered and abused sails. It was more or less an organized commotion and I scanned the area precisely for any traces of one or more of the band of fools I'd been stranded with. I had no intentions of interacting with anyone but the amazon, and the quicker that could be done with, the better.

I managed to pass unnoticed through the mass of workers clambering around and found my way to the port bow without looking back. The dock we had landed on was old, rickety, and small, no more than a crude fishing pier. It was hardly appropriate for a ship this size and I was amazed that the Captain had managed to sail alongside it and not crash into it, given the omnipresent thick mist that seemed to have followed us off from the ocean that made it difficult to see, much less dock on. The other thing that plagued my mind right from the start was the fact I recalled Kurast having a much more grandiose port. Kurast was the gateway into the Eastern continent and the city as I last remembered had been almost the size of Lut Gholeign with an equally large harbor. This run-down off-handed mooring tier was nothing like the bustling port I'd left only months ago.

I scowled bitterly. It was highly possible that the rogue could have landed us somewhere else. The girl was a novice and had no considerable skill in either inner sight or navigation to my knowledge, and the Captain hadn't struck me as much more impressive. That would be just my luck, to be stranded in the middle of some forgotten patch of coast with the lot of morons fate had dumped on my head.

I was unable to see more than twenty feet in any direction, seeing as the oceanic murk still shrouded our environment. I carefully scanned the curtaining mist, looking for any signs of life on the pier beside us. Strangely and disturbingly, I found none. There was not a single person upon our dock, another feature that was suggestive of navigational error. When I left Kurast last time, the docks, even the small ones, had been bustling to the brim with the insects that called themselves humanity. This place was absolutely vacant and still like an untouched grave.

A foreboding and stale wind whisked across the planks of the ill-used dock, causing them to creak and moan. I strongly debated if I should even leave the ship, every fiber of my mind told me that this couldn't possibly be the right place, a factor given merit to by the fact I couldn't even see the beginnings of an active city in front of me.

After a strong moment of doubt, I decided to leave the ship and explore a moment. I unceremoniously grabbed a sturdy plank of wood that appeared to have been blown loose in the latest battle off the deck and tested it thoroughly. The board held, despite four different attempts at placing my weight and the weight of my trunk against it at various angles. While everyone else was preoccupied I slid the wide timber diagonally across the ship's railing and onto the worn pier unnoticed.

Without another word, I carefully slid my trunk down the plank onto the dock before following behind myself. True to my first observations, the dock was seemingly abandoned so I started forward cautiously. Within moments I was in the thick of the mist, though I still maintained a connection to the activity that was happening on the ship behind me. Just in case.

It so happened that in the moment I was looking over my shoulder behind me, I felt the presence of an unknown person surface in front of me. I turned sharply, devoting my attention to this newcomer immediately.

"I wouldn't be so eager to abandon ship that quickly stranger, this place is a pit compared to an imperial vessel," the slick female voice stated casually.

I adjusted my position, turning to the left where I had heard the voice without responding myself. I waited in silence for this person to make a physical appearance, annoyance grating every fiber of my being. I had no desire to speak with any welcoming committee if indeed this was Kurast; I just wished to vacate this forgotten space as soon as possible.

She laughed, an irritating sound. "Don't say much, do you? I see. Well, perhaps that's just the issue, isn't it? You can't see me and that makes you nervous. Can't say I blame you, what with all the demons and other travel highlights lurking around," she added somewhat sarcastically.

"I've no time for your games woman," I growled icily. "Is this the Kurast dock?" I said flatly, wanting no more distractions.

"Woman? That's not very polite," she answered gruffly, though this person didn't seem to take offense in the slightest. "Yes, traveler, this is Kurast. Or better off saying what remains of it. I'll be checking that box of yours now," she asserted plainly without hesitation.

The woman appeared two feet to the right, melding out of the mist into a solid shape. She was tall, lanky, and had distinguishably pale skin that contrasted with her inky hair, which was also supplied with random stripes of auburn. Her nose was very prominent on her face, almost hooked and was in an awkward alignment with her high cheekbones. Overall, her face was so rigid it looked absurd. Her brown eyes scanned me over quickly now that she was within sight, and they fixed upon my bone armor with a mistrusting glint. It was a glint that the three-pronged scissor-katars dangling from her wrists mimicked in perfect harmony.

This woman was an assassin, and my guard flew immediately to the ready. I'd been so preoccupied with the thought of getting away from that band of morons I hadn't been paying attention to what really mattered.

"How convenient," I growled dangerously, already formulating my battle strategies in my mind. "Graced by a Viz-Jaq'Taar who wants to play security guard on a public dock," I hissed maliciously.

The assassin's hands twitched ever so slightly toward the handles of her katars, but then she relaxed them at her sides. I expected the woman to make a hostile move at any second and watched her every breath as she continued to stand there brazenly for moments afterward. She finally looked me up and down, and then snorted sarcastically.

"At ease, necromancer. You're not on my list. I've already got enough to do and I'm not looking for a fight. I just need to check your box for security reasons, though likely I already know that you've got in there," she stated nonchalantly. Strangely enough, I didn't sense any overt aggression in her words or posture. It was almost as if she hadn't gotten their mass memo for my extermination as a necromancer in general.

"I've already passed my security clearance at point A, thanks," I snapped bluntly. I'd go to hell before I let this assassin rummage through my possessions or delay me any longer. "Get out of my way, I don't need a tour guide," I insisted with antipathy, every inch of me twitching for a fight if this continued much longer.

"Safety first," the assassin insisted coldly. "I'm not going to let this entire space go to hell in a hand basket because you're in a hurry," she furthered adamantly, looping her right hand around the straps and into the handle of her katar threateningly.

"Natalya," a drawling male voice chided from behind the assassin, "That's no way to treat a visitor from Lord Jerhyn's personal flagship. It's bad for business and heaven knows our economy needs all the help it can get," the voice reasoned with a hint of irony.

"Hratli, I can't just let the standards slide because somebody appears on an imperial ship," she protested, though the assassin lowered her weapon.

The new man appeared by the assassin's side in a scarlet red robe with a strangely placid look on his face. He was much shorter than she was, and possessed wrinkled bronzy skin over his entire face, though I estimated he couldn't be more than thirty-seven turns or so by the currents of his life energies. He placed a calloused hand on the assassin's armored shoulder reassuringly, shaking it gently.

"The ward is still intact, no demons can enter here and they had to go through it to get this far. There's nothing in his trunk that's illegal here either, I already checked," he assured her, tapping his temple to verify.

The assassin glared at him reproachfully, but then crossed her katars over her chest in a sign of respect. "You'd know better than I without looking," she acknowledged reluctantly.

I raised an eyebrow to this odd display. For one, this new man seemed to be some kind of mage; the energies emanating from him couldn't be mistaken even by an arcane initiate fresh from the womb and this assassin had just respected him in a public display in front of another mage. Secondly, for some reason this man had the misguided impression that he could check the contents of a sealed, strapped, and dense trunk without ever opening the lid. He was either full of nonsense, which was the most likely scenario, or actually very powerful.

"Natalya, why don't you go welcome our other arrivals?" the scarlet-clad mage suggested simply as he and I locked eyes.

The assassin pursed her lips but nodded before sweeping past me into the mist behind us. I carefully waited for her return, knowing very well the cowardly assassin concept of stabbing someone in the back from the shadows.

"She won't bother you," the new mage assured, still with the same, even drawl.

"Shows what you know," I sneered spitefully. "Or have you ever met one of them before now?" I snorted.

The man nodded solemnly, but his tone as he replied maintained the same. "I have. I know very well what Natalya or any of them are capable of, but trust me when I tell you that while you are within the walls of the Kurast docks, and within the walls of your right mind, she will make no move against you, me, or any other mage present here," he continued.

"Do you have any idea what I am?" I declared skeptically, rolling my eyes and gesturing to the formerly demon bones covering my body.

The man smiled, revealing cracked, somewhat blistered lips. "Yes, yes. I can see that. But, I'll tell you that it doesn't matter and that is the truth. Though, I must say, I haven't seen a Priest of Rathma around here for quite some time," he answered plainly.

"There are reasons for that," I replied darkly. "Keep your adoring fan on a leash," I growled with venom, "And watch your back."

The man chuckled calmly. "You sound like Asheara. She had the same sentiment. I think it would be most unwise for Natalya to attack anyone here without due cause, seeing as nearly everyone that's left is a practitioner of some magical art or other," he explained.

"Left?" I asked oddly, a weird feeling of foreboding creeping onto my skin. "What exactly do you mean?" I furthered with displeasure.

The man laughed dryly, as if my comment were actually amusing. "That's right. You can't see anything for this mist. Can I ask how long it's been since you were last here, Priest of Rathma?" he inquired, though giving my title a sincere amount of respect when he addressed me.

"Flattery will get you nowhere," I insisted harshly, "But since you asked nicely, I had the misfortune of being here about eight months ago."

The mage raised a dark eyebrow. "Well then, much has changed since you left, in fact it's probably safe to assume you probably wouldn't recognize where you are unless I tell you. Let's wait for your friends, then I can escort you in," he suggested with persistent and out-of-place sense serenity.

"Don't associate me with that sorry lot," I demanded intently. "I'm not with them. In fact, I just want to leave here as soon as possible. I'm not even going to stay," I assured.

"I see. Well, whether you are with them or not, I'm afraid you will be gracing Kurast with your presence for a short while at least. I will explain when the others arrive. Ah—here they come now," he answered calmly.

Armor clanked up the creaking wooden posts followed by the swishing of robes and some of the most irritating voices I'll ever know.

"Oh, don't leave without a goodbye now," the warrior spat as he saw me. "I don't know how anyone would sleep at night if we didn't know what happened to you."

"That would imply someone actually cared," the rogue hissed to him and at me icily as she strode by him harshly to stand in front of the new mage.

"I almost regret leaving rogue, now that your attitude is starting to give you half a spine," I remarked to her casually. "Almost."

"Good riddance," she huffed at me rudely as the others appeared behind her.

"Ah. Gang's all here," the sorceress exclaimed nonchalantly as she laid eyes on me. "We thought you fell in, jackass."

"If we should be so lucky," the warrior grumbled as the amazon surfaced walking between the paladin and the barbarian with the sorcerer walking behind them. The druid followed closely behind him, his entourage of witless beasts surrounding him on all sides. Bringing up the very rear of this pathetic posse was the new assassin.

"Everything checks clear," she informed the red-clad mage with a nod before disappearing from view.

I noticed that the paladin had been watching this woman with a somber expression, an

Suddenly it made sense to me why the amazon was walking between him and the barbarian. I scoffed inwardly. If she thought those buffoons were going to do any good protecting her, she had a hard and lethal lesion coming.

"How in the world are they everywhere we want to be?" the sorceress grumbled crossly, gazing intently after the spot the assassin had vanished.

"They want to be everywhere you are, sorceress," I retorted plainly. "Everywhere the magic went, the assassins were sure to go," I half-sung sarcastically, manipulating the old folk song.

"I think, that be unfortunate truth," the male mage agreed solemnly.

"Where's the Elder?" the rogue asked, slightly less bitter than she'd been lately.

"Elder Cain is collecting his belongs back on deck, he wanted us to go ahead and he said he'll catch up soon," the sorceress explained simply.

The paladin took notice of the newcomer mage and stepped to the forefront of the group, as per usual. He bowed his head respectfully in greeting.

"We've already had the pleasure of meeting Natalya, whom might you be?" he asked cordially. The new mage eyed him oddly for a moment, resting his eyes wearily upon the golden cross emblazoned like a glittering sun on the paladin's platemail and shield. When he spoke this time, his tone changed considerably.

"You're a paladin?" he asked with what sounded like skepticism.

The devout ninny nodded. "I am. My name is Scorpious of the new Order of Zakarum," he announced.

The mage named Hratli pondered this for a moment, and then nodded grimly. "I see. Yes, I've heard of the neo-zakarumites. . . I wish I could give you a fonder welcome, Scorpious of the new order, but I'm afraid you've timed this visit at an ill-begotten hour," he replied darkly, arousing a serious look across the paladin's face.

"What are you-?" the amazon began in the paladin's stead, but the scarlet mage waved his hands dismissively.

"Not a good place for this sour topic I'm afraid," he responded simply, returning to his slow drawl. "But I'm forgetting my manners. Welcome to Kurast, travelers. Few come willingly to this ancient city anymore. I hope you brought your wits with you, for sanity is in short supply here. My name is Hratli, I am a sorcerer skilled in metal work. It'd be a pleasure to help you. . .I don't have many customers these days," he introduced with a comical element to his tone.

"As you can see, or will in a moment," he continued, gesturing grandly to the mists behind himself, "the populace has been brutally decimated by the forces of Mephisto. The canals run red with blood and demons roam the land. The wretched jungle-hell has already reclaimed much of Kurast. The only safety you'll find is here at the dockside, where a magical warding holds the jungle evils at bay . . . but," he informed obtusely as if he were just some spectator rather than a resident, "I don't know how long it will last."

"Are you serious?" the rogue asked sharply, interrupting him. "Why's the barrier in danger?" she sighed incredulously.

The metal-working mage looked to her with a smidge of sympathy. "I'm afraid that the powers of the magi supporting this shield are beginning to wane against the overwhelming tide of consistent demonic energy. It is for this reason, that no one is going in or out of this portside until the Iron Wolves have procured another energy source. It's too risky to drop the shield for random people to keep entering and exiting the city at their leisure," he explained evenly.

"We're stuck in here?" the sorceress asked sarcastically. "Isn't that just the way," she continued irately.

"We don't have time for this!" the warrior demanded hotly. "We're on a limited time schedule. We have to—just let us stock up and then let us out! We don't need protection and we can survive just fine outside the city walls!"

The metal mage held up one hand soothingly. "I didn't say that you would be stuck here, neither did I say that you were incapable of looking out for yourselves. If you want to leave immediately, I suggest that you go see Asheara, she will most likely allow your group to sign on with one of her mercenaries going out into the jungle," he suggested peacefully.

"I'm not attending to anyone's agenda but my own," I assured ardently. "You will not keep me locked in here for another group project," I growled dangerously.

"It is my understanding," the metal-worker began again with his aggravating removed tenor, "That you want to return to your order, Priest of Rathma."

"No kidding fool, I only told that three times," I snapped irritably.

"Well, I must regretfully inform you that the routes that were available to you eight months ago are, shall we say, now unobtainable? The demons have claimed every bit of jungle from here halfway to Scosglen and it is unlikely that you will get very far without being overwhelmed. Allow me to propose my first business proclamation. If you would be so kind and assist the Iron Wolves in retrieving a new energy source that allows us to breathe slightly more than a roach in a sardine can, I will gladly assist you in obtaining a teleportation scroll, courtesy of course, of the remaining sane townsfolk magi, that will take you back to your order immediately. I will do the same for anyone else also wishing for a hasty departure across time and space," he offered whimsically, looking around at the leery group.

"You're kiddin' righ'?" the barbarian asked in disbelief. "Y' does 'is seem to always happen ter us?"

"Because we're capable," the amazon said with a grim resolution. "Let's do this, we don't have time to tarry around," she asserted.

I hissed nastily. How in the name of Trag 'Oul did this keep happening? How long would it be before I was finally able to abdicate this ring of ridiculousness? My temper flared dangerously close to exploding in an emerald manner, but in the end, my logical mind knew the quickest way, and it always seemed to be, was to just get this the hell over with. And who was to say that I couldn't just up and leave the second we were allowed out of this sinkhole? I wasn't going to stay with this band of blunders for some philanthropic quest in the jungle. When the exit was open, I was going home, pronto.

"Deal," I spat hastily, lying for the most part. "Let's go already," I snapped as I strode past the metal-mage into the mist. I didn't have to walk very far before it cleared and revealed the saddest and most forsaken spit of Sanctuary we had yet to come across. I won't lie, the metal-mage had been right. If no one had told me this dilapidated, rundown collection of wooden piers and floating huts was Kurast, I'd have never believed it.

What had once been an impressive and well-established collection of oak docks large enough for five imperial vessels was now nothing more than a twig and twine assortment of poorly anchored and dubiously tethered sticks and fallen logs. The pier we'd entered on, while a poor excuse for what was once here, now seemed to be the most official and grand. Every fifty feet or so, one of the unsteady walkways would branch off into a collection of floating wood or rocks, leading into stick and straw huts that swayed dubiously in the thick, stagnant, and jet-black water beneath.

The whole place, even the water, smelled of rancid urine, blood, and unnatural decay. The water beneath our feet actually seemed to have an acidic quality to it. I eyed the support columns for two of the floating huts moored into the murk and noticed they were starting to corrode in rings around the water-line. I looked up, further down the causeway I was walking and noticed that there still seemed to be a central square at the end, made from stone.

When I was here last, the stone had actually been polished, grey slate that had been unblemished before the elements and held a perfect geometrical stability within their design. Now, when I surveyed the ruins before me, the stone was nearly mud-colored and infused with a black and sickly looking variety of aquatic fungus that gave off a putrid odor upon the winds. Several stones where missing in structurally key places; stones were strewn against each other at odd and unstable angles giving rise to the very real threat that they might collapse at any moment and bring the walls of the square down with them.

Rising within the interior of the square I could still see the temple steps of the Skatsimi pyramid, the landmark that truly distinguished this dank, destroyed environment as being Kurast. It too had endured a severe condition, I could clearly see the chunks missing out of the sides, and the once vivid paint had long since diminished into an etching of its former glory. I walked silently through the threshold of broken-down and damaged wall that separated the water walkways from the solid ground of the square and took a look around.

There had to have been at least fifty to sixty people present of varying ages, all of them having the sorry, sullen expressions of beings that had long since abandoned any and all hope. Their faces were stretched thin, and their once bronzy skin had taken on a grayish pallor. This, coupled with the emaciated quality their bodies possessed and the state of ruin in their ratty clothes made them appear as little more than zombies I'd raise from the grave already 100 years deceased.

Zombies would also have more sanity. A frail man with frayed, greasy black hair came running up to me, lumbering on his limbs in an awkward fashion like the druid's bear might do and then began to vigorously sniff my shoes before proceeding to the hem of my robes on all fours like a mutt. The man babbled incoherently, sounding like more beast than human, groping with filthy yellowed hands into the fabric of my robes.

"Let go," I snapped viciously, kicking the crazed individual off of me swiftly. The man whimpered like an injured puppy, then stared at me with glassy, vague eyes. I don't know what had happened to this witless creature, but I couldn't care less. If the fool could not maintain enough of his right mind to know he was human, he was weak and needed to be culled from the herd.

"Be gone, if you know what's good for you," I asserted truthfully in the same voice I'd use to discourage a stray mutt from attacking me. The man tilted his balding head to the side quizzically, seemingly no longer able to understand even basic common tongue.

The man suddenly snarled, curling his flat lips and revealing a grand total of three, brown and chipped teeth before lunging at me. I mentally shifted the bone around in my right bracer and prepared to use it to end the lowly being like I would a rabid dog, but there was no need. A girl, whom looked to be no older than the rogue at best, hastily grabbed the man's deteriorating shirt and pulled him rapidly backwards.

The crazed man turned violently on the girl in a blind rage, lashing out with limbs and snarling like a beast. To my surprise, the girl dodged his wild strikes easily; perhaps she was used to this sort of occurrence, and then slapped his right shoulder across the top sternly.

"Hal, we don't attack visitors!" she rebuked harshly. "Calm down!" she commanded with authority, glaring into the insane person's unfocused eyes.

The humanoid beast seemed to recognize her voice, much like the druid's mutts knew their master's and he collapsed his skeletal frame onto the maimed stone ground like a sack of bricks, falling over grotesquely in the process of trying to lay down slowly. The mentally disintegrated man eyed me wearily as the girl approached me.

"I'm sorry about that," she apologized sincerely. "That normally doesn't happen," she continued, brushing a strand of raven-colored, frazzled hair behind her dirt-encrusted ear. This girl, for all intents and purposes seemed to have fared better than most in the square, she wasn't as thin, or pale. Her skin still retained a hint of the native jungle bronze; despite the dull tan it was mostly now. The one thing that struck me about this girl was her eyes. Her eyes were still sharp and clear, and a vibrant blue when the rest of her had become dingy. Here was one that had retained her sanity, a morbidly humorous occurrence, seeing as she might have been the youngest one of the bunch.

"Keep your apology, girl," I replied emotionlessly. "And keep your pet away from me, or I will kill it the next time," I added in honesty.

"Yeah, I kind of figured you for that sort the moment I saw you. That's why I stepped in, to save his life," she persisted in her own honesty.

"What a waste," I answered simply, "that thing is no more human than a frog. Sad that you'd throw your pathetic existence away for something so worthless," I remarked casually as I strode past her apathetically.

"He's still a person too," she insisted, for some reason intent on following me at the heels like a hound. "Just like me," she pressed, "And just like you," she added after a minute. "What gives you the right to determine his worth?"

I stopped and turned to look this miniature menace in the face coldly, something about her statement had poked my attention. "That thing isn't like me at all or even you, little brat. Not hardly," I responded bluntly. "Don't you have chores or something better to do, little pest? Run along now before I leash you with your dog," I demanded, having no patience or desire to listen to a child spout paladin-like theology.

"Cold as ice," the girl said sarcastically with a click of her tongue. "That's how everybody starts out."

"Maybe you aren't as sane as I thought," I remarked casually, having absolutely no idea what this odd child was talking about. Shouldn't a girl her age be playing with dolls or in a mud puddle somewhere and not pestering strange people that she knew from the start had a killer instinct?

"I'm probably as sane as you are," she countered boldly.

"How old are you, little horsefly?" I growled in aggravation.

"Fourteen," she announced proudly. "My name is Jenny."

"I didn't ask you what your name was," I snapped pointedly, becoming extremely annoyed.

"You got it anyway," she said, somewhat playfully.

"Listen, Janae, was it?" I snorted. "Do you have a death wish or something? You yourself said you figured me for the sort, and you were pretty accurate about that assumption," I warned.

"Jenny," she corrected stoutly. "And you won't attack me if you have any common sense yourself. Not for just speaking to you," she proclaimed with a shrug.

"Try me. Keep this up and I'll—" I began, trying to sound as convincing as possible.

"Jackass, what are you doing to that little girl? Are you really that much of an asshole, scaring a little kid?" the sorceress razed skeptically as she came into the square behind me moments later.

"We're having a discussion about humanity and everyone's right to exist," the girl announced to the female mage crisply.

The sorceress looked from me to the child and an amused smile cracked across her lips. "Well, I'm sad I missed the beginning of this and I can't wait to see the end," she assured almost gleefully.

"Hardly a conversation," I sneered. "And what little was said is over now," I exclaimed unceremoniously as I started forward again.

I turned around when a terrified woman's scream pierced the stiff atmosphere like a red-hot needle. The woman's scream was suddenly echoed by the chaotic and horrified shouting of several more people in the square, male and female alike. There was so much frantic noise I had no clue what had gotten this hive of the mentally ill in a swarm; I couldn't distinguish any clear word. Objects starting flying as the refugees around us started to rapidly pick up and throw random objects: stones, planks, shoes, metal tidbits, and even clumps of dirt and seaweed were all hailed at something behind me.

I looked around, searching for the source of this new insanity and in the chaos the disabled half-man the girl had defended started to roll around on the ground in sheer terror, shaking like a leaf in a whirlwind. He curled into himself defensively and whined as he stared into the entrance to the square like a caged rabbit in front of a predator. He started to scream and wail an illegible word over and over until at last I could make out the gist of it.

"PALLY!" he shrieked in horror. "PALLY! PALLY!"

Pally. That was the mentally handicapped shorthand for paladin. Paladin of Zakarum. Indeed, that was definitely what had caused this riot. The paladin had walked in, and seemingly with one look at the gleaming symbols on his armor, this whole place had erupted into a literal madhouse. Anyone that was around and that included everyone had picked up the item nearest to them and began to chuck it with malice at the paladin's stunned frame.

I'd never seen a shock quite this candid on the alleged holy-man's face. His entire countenance was plastered with surprise down to his chin as a rock struck his plated upper arm with fury, followed by a sizable wooden timber to his right thigh. The force and the unexpected situation caused the paladin to stumble clearly and almost fall. All around us the crowd had become murderous.

"MONSTER!" an unknown voice roared with rage.

"HELP! HELP! SOMEONE HELP!" someone else hollered hysterically.

"DEMON!" yet another voice bellowed.

"LEAVE HERE! LEAVE NOW!" a shrill voice demanded in panic

"GOD SAVE US! GOD SAVE US!" a random crowd member screeched in horror.

Those were among the more common phrases as the mass of the gathered continued to barrage the paladin with objects. The paladin had taken to using his adorned shield to block the volleys of objects, but seeing as they were coming from all sides, he was failing miserably. One by one, the assortment of debris assailed him violently until at last he lost his footing, assisted no doubt by his terminal condition and fell onto the ground in a metallic heap.

Seeing the paladin fall, the locals grabbed whatever weapons they could find, sticks, poles, more rocks, and sometimes even a knife or axe and converged savagely upon the place he had fallen. My guess was that the rest of our little group had been just as shocked and hadn't been able to react before now.

Apparently the amazon and the sorceress along with the barbarian seemed to have been trying to yell over the commotion for the frenzied townsfolk to stop this brutal beating, but they weren't having even a shimmer of success.

The angry mob closed in as the members of the party rushed to the paladin's aid. The druid's bear was the first to intervene and in a massive display of primal force, the she-bear mauled through the weapons and bodies of four people that had moved to strike the downed paladin.

Blood and savage screams of rage filled the air and instead of stopping this pandemonium, the bear's attack only stoked the fire of their ire to greater heights. Two people actually attempted to hack into the bear with crude cleavers, a feat I knew the druid would never allow. He hastily blasted a jet of icy wind into their midst and froze their arms to their bodies. The two would-be bear killers fell helplessly to the ground, and while the druid may not have ended their lives, his mutts, stirred into their own feral rage with the fury and violence around them directed at one of their own jumped atop one each, savagely tearing at ice and anything else they could reach.

The warrior had actually engaged three more crazed villagers with the broadside of his sword and was trying desperately not to seriously injure anyone while parrying blows, but lightning arced off his sword into the metal shank someone was holding to his right, shocking them to the floor.

The barbarian grabbed the tiny wrists of two thin women, one in each hand with a powerful distaste written all over his body. He restrained himself as best he was able and pushed them away from himself, but his best restraint was still strong enough to send their weakened frames crashing to the ground in a powerful collision.

Two people actually tried to jump off an overhanging rock pile into the middle of the protective circle the group had formed, shoving roughly downward with rudimentary pikes. The two magi used their unseen telekinetic energies to blast them back into the wall they'd jumped off of and render them unconscious.

The rogue actually smashed her bow across the face of a young man trying to mow her over, leaving a serious gash in his neck, seeing as his skin was already brittle.

The amazon was tossing a collection of four more rioters over one of her javelins with determination, expertly throwing them into their encroaching group of fellows behind them.

In the meantime, I stood idly by and watched the scenario unfold apathetically. The group was outnumbered at least six to one and it seemed that the insane bloodlust this mob possessed was enough to render them oblivious to pain or loss. Or perhaps, it was just their seething hatred. Either way, the group was about to be sorely outmanned and if they didn't start actively looking to kill these unstable people, they would be killed themselves. I leaned back against a nearby pile of broken crates, crossing my arms. There was no way in Sanctuary I was going to get myself killed for the paladin, a man I myself so desperately despised.

Elemental magics ripped through the area as a dozen or more new people appeared into the calamity. Looking around, these newcomers where clad from head to toe in colorful mage robes, overlaid in various places with metal armor of various elements. All brandished some type of superior weapon along with arcane auras.

A tanned woman, the most scantily clad of the bunch, whom wore only a chainmail bra with no under armor and a loose unarmored leather skirt slit heavily up the sides sprang forward with an enormous spear at ready and an attitude to match.

She magically magnified her voice, so that it resounded all around like an echo in a canyon. "WHAT THE HELL IS GOING ON HERE!" she roared like a lion.

Her voice seemed to carry more presence than her clothes, even the enraged townsfolk halted in their attempts on the paladin's life.

An elderly woman screeched her fury to the new woman. "ARE WE SO LOW WE CANNOT PROTECT OUR LIVES?"

"OUR LIVES! OUR LIVES ARE IN DANGER! OUR CHILDREN! OUR ELDERS!" someone else howled into the air.

"DEMON! DEMON!" the first woman wailed insanely. "THE DEMONS ARE HERE!"

The new woman lowered her spear when she noticed the bruised and bloodied members of the group, still clinging to their formation. It was then I noticed the assassin from earlier materialize on the top of a wall to the right.

"They're mistaken," the assassin announced nonchalantly. "These aren't demons, and nothing they carry is demonic," she assured the new woman. "They're all travelers from Lut Gholeign."

The new woman eyed her disbelievingly. "All this madness for a group of newcomers? Have you all really descended that far into delusion?" she asked dangerously as she looked around the packed square of tense commoners.

"DEMON!" a younger man shouted vehemently over and over. "One bears their mark!" he insisted with demented fervor.

"What are you talking about Tray?" the new woman huffed, unimpressed.

"One is a paladin. He belongs to the neophyte order. I'm guessing Hratli forgot to warn him about the old one, or perhaps assumed he already knew," the assassin explained, gaining several shivers from the gathered crowd with the word "paladin".

The woman growled gruffly. "What a hell of a way to be wrong! Back off dogs! Back down all of you!" the barely clothed woman barked stiffly with authority.

"We will not!" Some random fool protested violently, gaining a murmur of mass agreement. "We will not let a demon walk among us! You're the one who's blind, Asheara!"

"He's not a demon!" the amazon cried out incredulously. "None of us are!"

"Liar! You wear a human face monster of the burning legions!" a young woman yelled crazily.

"This is ridiculous," the rogue snarled, notching an arrow on her bow. "The next person to attack us is going to die," she insisted, not unlike our former assassin would have done.

Seeing her aggressive display sparked malcontent in the already teetering group. "Even now they raise weapons against us! MURDERS! DEMONS! MONSTERS!" the same woman bellowed.

"Stand down, stranger. These folks are dim, but they're serious about stuff like this. Put that away unless you want to be killed," the new woman admonished seriously.

"Listen to the voice of reason!" one of the magi with the woman called out angrily himself. "Everyone calm down!"

The crowd didn't look inclined to agree in the slightest or to relent. I had a feeling with the suppressed hatred these people held it was only moments before the fighting broke out again and this time they might even attack their own mercenaries.

Like a gallant moron, the paladin had taken this opportunity to rise from the protective encircling of the others and even tried to push the barbarian aside to get to the front where everyone could see him.

Angry hisses and growls passed through the dangerous mob as he surfaced. "Step aside everyone. I have no desire to see anyone get killed because of me. One life is not worth a hundred," he said quietly as he gazed into the malign faces around himself. I could see the fear shimmering just under the surface of his eyes. The paladin was afraid to die, but seemingly, he'd resigned himself to it. "Alminus, move aside please," the paladin requested again, more sternly.

"No," the large man argued obstinately. ""is is bullshit n' I ain't gonna let ya throw yur life away fur no reason," he growled. "Ya ain't done nothin' wrong."

"Amen to that," the sorceress agreed as she and the sorcerer braced themselves on either of the paladin's lateral sides.

"Wait," a timid voice suddenly cried out, softly at first. I turned to see the child from earlier, standing off to the side of the crowd. Apparently, she alone hadn't participated in the attack. "Wait!" she yelled out, more strongly as she caught sight of the paladin's bruised face clearly.

The mass of people turned to the girl expectantly, apparently the voice of one of their own number had gotten through to them more than the threats from anyone else.

"I. . ." the girl stammered as tears welled up in her eyes. "I know this man! EVERYBODY GET AWAY FROM HIM!" she shouted emotionally and without warning she ran through the crowd, and even managed to duck around the surprised barbarian and flung her arms around the paladin's neck, crying profusely.

The paladin looked down at her sobbing frame in bewilderment, obviously he had no idea who she was.

"I'm sorry," the girl choked into his armored gorget. "I'm so sorry. If I'd have known it was you I wouldn't have let them do this," she sobbed.

The barbarian turned to hover over the pair of them with his axe uncertainly in hand, but the paladin shook his head gently, signaling him to back down.

"Who-?" the paladin began in astonishment, but softly nonetheless.

"Do you remember me?" the girl asked with a hiccup, lifting her tearstained face to the paladin's own.

The blank look on the paladin's face answered her without words, but the girl didn't seem offended. She sniffled, then backed away from him, wiping her tears on the back of her gritty hand.

"No, probably not I'd guess. I was just a little girl when you saw me last. My name is Jenny. You saved me and my brother Jeremy when we were both kids. You stopped that other paladin from killing us and your friend healed my brother of the plague," she reminded.

The light came on behind the paladin's confused eyes and as it did, his face lit up with amazement.

"Yes," he proclaimed powerfully with a voice full of his own emotion. "Yes, I remember you now. My god…" he said quietly as the girl turned to the crowd.

"Everybody this is Scorpious, he saved my life and helped me and Jeremy get out Bardinji. We can trust him!" the girl announced in a bounding and reassuring tone.

The crowd grumbled as a whole, but then slowly as the dimwits looked to each other for verification, they began backing away slowly. You could almost physically feel the immediate tension disperse as the mass of morons did, carrying the various injured between them.

"We're not needed here," the woman in charge of the mercenaries stated bluntly, "and I can't say I'm not happy about that. Move out you lot, back to work," she commanded briskly as the mages disappeared as quickly as they had come.

I noticed the amazon had started to call out to this woman, but whatever request she was going to make was silenced as the woman disappeared.

The assassin jumped down from her perch into our midst nimbly, a grim look on her face. "Desperation does horrible things to people. They just want somebody to blame for what happened," she consoled vaguely.

The paladin had turned shakily to the girl that just saved his sorry ass. "Jenny," he began, hesitantly at first. "I am so blessed to see that you're alive and unharmed," he said softly.

"That's pretty sad, even for you, paladin. A child just saved your life," I sneered dryly.

"And I'm more than alright with that," he answered me plainly, looking the girl in the eyes. "Jenny," he began again, a somber expression replacing every bit of momentary joy he might have held, "Jenny, what happened here? Why did the people…." he trailed off morbidly, dread crossing his face.

The girl downcast her eyes. "I'm not sure where to begin telling you this if you didn't already know," she admitted in earnest.

"I can't believe Hratli didn't say something," the new assassin growled. "This whole mess could have been avoided."

"I was getting to that," the metal-worker protested as he came into the square. "This whole coalition was just overly eager to explore," he argued, staring at me directly. "You left before I could finish. Allow me to clarify," he added, still maintaining a peaceful aloofness in his voice. "I was about to tell you that you'd be received poorly here because the old crusade, all of the previous children of Zakarum are in league with the forces of Mephisto. Somehow, and no one seems to know exactly what happened, but all the old paladins and priests became corrupted and just suddenly turned on us one day," he informed. "They became monsters, demons even, and started mercilessly slaughtering all the people that had come to trust them that they'd once sworn to protect. That's why when the people here see the Zakarum cross, they go a little. . . . nuts. Most of them lost everything when the Zakarumites betrayed us, and all of them regardless have had to deal with the consequences of what happened. It drove many to insanity, which you've already figured out for yourself. To be truthful, this ward around the dockside was created mainly for protection against them."

If I thought the paladin had looked shocked before, words couldn't describe the dumbfounded, anguished expression that he wore now. His entire body started to shake, be it from grief or rage, maybe both, I didn't know. The paladin shook his head violently in disbelief.

"No," he said barely audible at first. "No," he repeated again more strongly. "No. . .no. . .no. . NO!" he yelled out in misery over and over.

I laughed. I couldn't contain it anymore. "Not so righteous as even you believed, were they, paladin?" I taunted. "I guess now I get to say I told you so," I continued maliciously and it was true. What I had been saying all along, now the whole world would know as truth. Righteous. Holy. Honorable. A load of shit if ever I've heard it and the paladin was a fool to blindly trust their untrue romanticism.

The paladin continued to shake his head adamantly ignoring me and not saying anything until at last some obscure thought seemed to come back to him. "Jenny. . ." he choked out himself. ". . .What happened to Khalim?" he whispered at last. "Do you know?"

Twin tears fell from the girl's eyes the moment the name was spoken, signaling her answer before she spoke it. "Scorpious," she said tragically herself, though she tried her best not to break down when she answered. The girl tried twice to say the words and failed, apparently this person of the paladin's was someone they both held close and in high regard.

"I'll say it," the new assassin said gravely as she patted the distraught girl's shoulder gently. "Khalim was killed by the other members of the Zakarum council. He alone remained true to the light from what we've been able to determine," she delivered reverently.

It was my turn to be surprised. The tormented yell that escaped the paladin's lips made myself, and everyone else jump, and I observed in silence as the paladin slammed his armored fists repeatedly into the deteriorating stone beneath him in grief.

"Stop, you'll hurt yourself," the amazon said in dismay.

"Let him. He's old enough to know better," I replied to her icily.

"It's as I feared then," came the voice of the old man as he made his way over, leaning heavily on his walking stick with the Captain of our ship and several crewmembers beside him.

"I can't believe this is actually Kurast," the captain said quietly as he dropped whatever bag the old sage had him carrying in serious realization. "This is my beloved homeland…" he trailed off further as he performed a four-pointed cross over his body in mourning.

The paladin watched this display with anguish, and it seemed as if the sign of his precious cross now bore him too much pain to view. He put his head in his hands with several serious dents apparent in his gauntlets as the old buzzard and everyone else tried in various ways to console him.

"Hratli," the paladin started in a dangerous voice, the likes of which I'd never heard from him before. It contained nothing short of rage, malice, and . . . hate.

"Yes?" the metal-worker responded seriously.

"Where are these former faithful now?" he asked with a quiet voice.

"The Zakarum have concentrated their power in the Temple City of Travincal, located within Kurast deep in the jungle wilderness, I'm sure you already know where it is. If you're intent on vengeance, just know that their transformations under Mephisto's power gave them demonic abilities we might not know about yet and twisted the ones they already had. It's true... Their zeal is unmatched. But I say the so-called "Warriors of Light" are nothing more than the twisted puppets of a hidden hand," he finished suggestively.

"Don't be so quick to chase them down, Lord Scorpious," the sage warned. "I fear that Hratli may be correct in that there are factors of which we are not yet aware."

"I will not let this pass in silence and inaction," the paladin vowed, seething in unpleasant emotions. "They will regret the day they crossed into the darkness, and I swear here and now that I will personally see to that."

"Paladin, as much as I like this new, less zeal-otic you, you still irritate me," I snorted casually and walked away in the opposite direction. In truth, I wanted to scope out the perimeters of this little haven and see if there was any way I could make an escape right now.

I'd just walked around the corner and into a deserted stretch of habitation when I saw a gap in the wall, clumsily filled with wooden spires, attempting to patch the wide hole. I moved in that direction, scanning the area and sensing the magical energies contained around the edge of this place. In an instant, every fiber of my body was tensed and alert.

I directed my gaze into the gapping area of the wall and noticed that just beyond it, very near to the timberline leading into a thick and darkened expanse of jungle there was a figure there, cloaked in the shadows watching me.

"I've had enough of this in-the-shadows refuse to last a lifetime. Who the hell are you?" I demanded fiercely, jumping the damaged railing with ease and approaching this unknown being without hesitation.

There was no answer and as I drew closer, I could easily distinguish the form of a man, wearing a worn and dusty brown monk's robe. Unimpressed by this stranger's clear audacity and disrespect for me, I ignited a poison bolt on my hand, channeling a powerful force through it, one that would be worthy of my title. The bolt blasted necromantic light all around the area as it flickered wildly, begging for release. Whatever this spell hit was going to vaporize instantaneously and it was about to be this unlucky moron for his lack of manners. For all I knew, this was yet another damned assassin and so far, payback had been excellent today and I was up for more.

"Speak up asshole, or be wiped from existence. I'm not playing games anymore," I demanded angrily.

The man, still silent, tilted his obscuring hood for a better look at my hand from beneath it. It seemed my magic interested this person for some reason.

"Here, have a firsthand look," I offered irritably and launched the projectile flawlessly.

Twice in one day, I was shocked. And this time, I don't think anything could have come as more of a surprise. The man simply reached out a severely damaged hand, one that looked like it shouldn't have even been attached anymore, and extinguished my pulsing poison bolt between two mutilated fingers like a dying match without any damage whatsoever to his own body.

I blinked, the surreal occurrence not truly registering. Never in all my training, battles, or usage of poison had anyone or anything just disposed of it like I was a newborn baby up against a titan. I had put a withstanding amount of energy into that spell; the bastard should have been mist right now. . . . I'm the Emerald Prince because no one, save Lord Rathma, has a better command of poisons than me. For this man to just . . . . no. Not a man. A demon and a very powerful one at that.

"_What_ the hell are you?" I rephrased in a deadly voice.

This time, I received an answer. A hollow and deep-throated laugh boomed manically from the frame of what I had originally thought to be a man, sweeping around me and through me like nothing I've ever felt. With just the malicious laughter, just a mere sound, I'd never been more afraid in my entire life. Power that I couldn't even begin to mortally comprehend poured through every vibration of subtle noise the demon uttered and caused a burning, living fire to ignite in my own muscle strands. Agony washed over me in every fiber of my body as the strange sway of this laughter sapped the strength from my limbs and I collapsed onto the ground, unable to stand, or even to my mortification, move at all.

I was completely incapacitated, and all this monster had done was laugh. The demon's robe swished slowly across the tainted ground as it walked calmly towards me, unimpressed by me in the slightest. Every motion, every swish of cloth and impact of this demon's feet on the ground, echoed in each of my five senses, bringing dread to my entire being. I smelled every distinct scent of death in the creature's mere presence, I felt obliteration in every pore I had inside and out, I heard malice in the demon's breathing and even movements, I tasted evil upon my immobilized tongue and was forced to drink that vileness into the core of my heart, which started to quiver. And lastly, I saw it. I saw the gaping wound in the man's demolished face, in his forehead. He leaned over me and smiled with razor-sharp, bloodstained teeth. That smile… the demented, disfigured, twisted smile… it was triumphant and the most unsettling thing I'd ever witnessed in my existence. There was nothing that I could do to stop this monstrosity from killing me and that horrified me. Terror in its purest incarnation pulsed through me and in that instant I knew just what it was standing over me. Diablo. The Lord of Terror.

The prime evil lord towered over me, just staring my helpless soul even further into despair. I waited with horror for the death blow I knew would be coming soon. At least, I hoped it would. I didn't know how much more I could experience anyway without combusting. And from somewhere far away, I heard her voice.

"Piricus?" the amazon called loudly from somewhere nearby. I chose instead to listen to her, the sound of her calling me. Such an irritating sound, really, but in that moment, it was one I needed. I had to focus on anything but this soul-shattering fear. A hope entered into me, just briefly, that maybe the amazon could somehow help me out of this. But the thought was brief as another side of me, in the wake of my own destruction, voiced the opinion that I had so long been suppressing. Half of me didn't want her anywhere near me, even now, because then she'd die too. There was no way if I didn't stand a chance, she would either. That damn gypsy was right. No matter how hard I tried to deny it, mistrust her, or shove her away, in the end for some reason also beyond my mortal comprehension I cared for Chyemme and she was the only real friend I had.

As if my mind's vocation of the amazon's name were some sort of release, Diablo straightened and walked away, just as nonchalantly as he had come into the jungle underbrush, but not before I knew the amazon had gotten a glimpse of him too. An electrically charged javelin went flying through the air aimed for his turned back. The projectile didn't even touch him, it hit some sort of invisible barrier and bounced off sending sparks to the ground harmlessly as the Lord of Terror disappeared.

The amazon was by my side in a flash, over me and shaking me. "Piricus!"she exclaimed in alarm. "Piricus, say something!" she demanded, a fearful tone coming to her voice.

When the demon left, its influence did as well. I rolled over onto my side and coughed, trying desperately to quell the frightful shivers still rocking my muscles involuntarily.

"Damn it," I growled, though I heard and knew it had half, if any, of my normal spunk in it.

"Piricus. . ." the amazon asked me slowly, turning me to look her in the eyes. "Was that…" she trailed off darkly, a knowing look seemingly alive all over her body. I don't know how she knew, but she did. She knew her last javelin had been aimed for the Lord of Terror.

"Yes amazon, I think so," I admitted without any attempt of unceremonious or sarcastic tone whatsoever, another thing that bewildered me.

She didn't say anything and for moments she and I just sat there looking at each other in disbelief, the scope of what just happened settling in. Why would the demon have left us alive? It didn't make any sense, but I guess right now that wasn't what mattered. As I sat there on the stale, sloppy Kurast ground looking at the amazon I came to the most painful realization of all, perhaps the most agonizing one of my life. She was right with what she'd said on the boat yesterday. I couldn't do this alone. I couldn't hope to face Mephisto, also a prime evil, alone. I'd be crushed in an instant if this latest debacle was any indication. I needed her help, and moreover, I needed the help of the rest of this likely death-bound party if I wanted to get anywhere close enough to strike Mephisto a killing blow. My vengeance now hinged on not only my own ability, but those of others. I kicked the soggy mush beneath my feet in my own misery. This was going to be hard as hell for me to accept, but I needed to make up some excuse to stay with this damned coalition, at least for now. The amazon was also right in the fact they were headed that way anyway, and if I stuck around long enough, I'd very likely get the chance I so desperately craved. Maybe this bunch wasn't so useless after all. Damn it all, damn it all.

"We need to get the others immediately," the amazon suggested starkly, springing to her feet. What had seemed like forever in pained reflection was in actuality only a fraction of a second. "We found what we were looking for."

"There's only one problem," I interrupted as I watched the last sparks of the amazon's javelin fade into the ground completely and two, reddish-black portals swell into creation beneath them. "Well, actually two," I corrected with my normal sarcasm when two of the ugliest looking creatures I'd ever laid eyes upon surfaced from the hellish portals, wriggling their claws and fangs.

The amazon turned around, glimpsing the demons in a second, returning to a fighting stance. I joined her back on my feet moments later and drew my dagger.

"I'll tell you something amazon," I snorted ironically as the demon worms charged us, "This has been the homecoming from hell." 


	5. Chapter 5

AN: I can't say this enough, and I truly mean it, thank you for everyone who reads and/or reviews. Without all of you, I'd have given up long ago.

Disclaimer: I do not own Diablo or Diablo 2 all copyrights are still in effect and are property of Blizzard Entertainment.

The Iron Maiden

Chyemme

My mind was reeling with pure shock, though I knew in all honesty I shouldn't have been surprised. When Piricus had disappeared, I thought it would be the perfect opportunity to speak with him regarding the odd necklace that I had been entrusted with. Especially owing to the fact I highly suspected Piricus wanted to duck out on this group and return home as soon as possible. It would be so like him, to leave without even a murmur of goodbye and despite the inquiry about the necklace, I had highly personal reasons for not wanting him to leave so suddenly.

It would appear, as I eyed the menacing, slug-like hellish worms that had wriggled out of the ground like a newborn zombies, I was correct. Piricus was probably trying to find a secretive means of hasty exit when I had come across this new scenario unfolding. My mind and my body trembled at the magnitude of what I had just witnessed. Piricus was on the ground when I got here; it looked like he had been completely immobilized by the way his entire frame was quivering. And standing over him, a real manifestation from my nightmares was Diablo the Lord of Terror in the destroyed body of Marcus Valarius.

Two anomalies kept playing through my mind as I readied my body for the battle with these new, rapidly approaching denizens of hell. Firstly, why hadn't Diablo killed Piricus and me? It seemed he already had Piricus at his demented mercy and surely I wasn't that much stronger than he was. For some odd reason, it seemed the Lord of Terror didn't even want to fight. He hadn't made an aggressive move toward me; he'd just turned and vanished into the jungle underbrush. Maybe the demon thought we weren't worth his time, or maybe he was playing with us. Either case was highly probable, but right now that speculation was a moot point.

My second enigma was my own behavior. This time, when I had physically seen the corporeal container of this monstrosity, for some reason, I hadn't been paralyzed with crippling fear. Every single other mental encounter I'd had with this prime evil had been wrought with body quaking terror. Every single one, but not this one. Not now that I was actually seeing the demon in the flesh. Shouldn't that have made matters much worse than any spiritual sensation my mind could conjure?

The truth of this matter, as I looked beside me to Piricus, whom had also recovered quickly enough for battle, seemed to rest with him. I briefly replayed the whole scene as I hefted my javelin into attack position. I had come around the corner, looking for Piricus and following my instincts mixed with inner sight. I'd gotten a sinking feeling in my gut that had absolutely nothing to do with psychic senses, and then I saw a hooded figure stooped over something just beyond the crumbling stone wall. When I saw just who and what the situation involved, I guess my heart overpowered my logical senses. I saw that Piricus was in trouble first and foremost, and I suspect I didn't truly register who his assailant was until after I threw the javelin. Not that it mattered, even if I'd been aware of Diablo's presence immediately, I'd likely have still attacked just the same at some point. This was our mission and why we were primarily here in Kurast to begin with. To slay the Lord of Terror and keep him from reuniting with Mephisto.

I grimaced as the ooze-covered slug demons closed the last four feet between me and Piricus. I had attacked the Lord of Terror, for all the good it did. My javelin hadn't even come close. It struck some type of force field before falling to the ground lightning and all, and that was one of my most powerful channelings of Zerae's power. I was highly suspicious as I locked eyes with a greasy slug demon that these new creatures might also be under the protection of some sort of barrier, given who their summoner was. In either case we needed to defeat them quickly, and then rally with the others as swiftly as possible. We had no time to wait for one of the Iron Wolves or to help the townsfolk with their power source. We needed to chase after Diablo as fast as we could, this agenda was far more important. For everyone.

A slug demon lunged for me with the speed of a striking snake, and actually managed to scrape a four inch claw against the inside edge of my greave despite my attempt to dodge. The creature opened its mouth to take a snap out of my actual flesh and I rewarded it with a swift kick under its wide jaw. Kicking this new horror was like embedding my foot in wet mud; the thick, yellow, and purulent ooze encasing its body had an unpleasantly sticky quality and trapped my foot upon contact.

I shook my leg vigorously, trying to free myself as swiftly as possible, but somehow this demon, though relatively small, was incredibly heavy. I might have had better luck prying Gaia off of myself. The good news was that while my foot was stuck under its jaw, I seemed to have a minute amount of control over the demon's mouth and the direction it went. As the monster tried to jerk downwards to bite, I was able to apply a steady pressure upward and keep it from injuring me. The bad news was the demon's teeth weren't its only weapon; it still had claws like a handful of knives.

Thus far, the superior craftsmanship of the lower-body armor I'd purchased from Fara seemed to be holding up against this new demon, a fact I was truly grateful for. Its bloody appendages ground against the metal plates protecting my shins and thighs violently, but hadn't managed to break through the steel construction.

The demon thrashed ardently and started to roll its slimy body to the right, bringing my ensnared leg with it. I had to pry this thing loose or I was going to lose my balance and be on the ground with it. My boots squished into the soppy muck of the near bog-like terrain, giving me an idea. I kicked with my free foot into the loose ground, scooping up a cluster of mud and decaying vegetation and hurled it with my leg into the demon's soulless black eyes. It worked, the demon relented its manual attack on my armor to paw at its obscured eyes irritably.

I quickly used the end of my javelin to scoop another layer of mud while the monstrosity was distracted and insert the sediment around the point of connection to my stuck foot. The mud seemingly acted as a greasing agent in itself and I was able to slide my own appendage safely away from the distracted demon.

A flash of green-yellow light and a swear word spat from my right told me that Piricus was experiencing a manner of difficulty as well. I received a peripheral sight of one of his fanged spell barbs bouncing harmlessly off the demon's front. It appeared I was correct in the assumption these things had a barrier around them, but it seemed to be just magical.

Piricus side-stepped around the wriggling tail of the slug-demon and slashed out with his dagger, aimed for the creatures side.

"Don't!" I insisted immediately, knowing very well what would happen if he physically struck the demon and a hand was definitely worse than a foot that close to a demon. "You'll get stuck!" I hissed loudly in warning as I used the point of my spear to stab at the hand of my own assailing demon, trying to deter it as best as I was able.

To my relief and also surprise, Piricus seemed to heed my warning. He refolded his attacking arm mid-strike and side-stepped the demon's snapping jaws as it whirled its front on him.

"Then what are you suggesting, amazon?" he called over crossly. "Do you have a better idea?" he half-sneered in irritation.

I blinked. Was he really willing to take my advice? The sad part was I didn't have any to give right now. "Nothing immediate comes to mind," I answered back apologetically. "I'm still working that part out," I added with my own sense of annoyance.

"You're a big help," Piricus snorted sarcastically, rolling his emerald eyes. His attacking demon used that instant to attempt to rip into his exposed shin. The bone bracers around Piricus' forearms shimmered, then transformed from a solid into a liquid-looking vapor that hastily traveled to his exposed flesh and relocked into place and into concrete form around his shins. A small, ivory chip went flying out of Piricus' armor. He scowled sourly and formed a bone spear in his hand.

"Do you know anything at all about these creatures, Piricus?" I asked quickly as I yielded away from a handful of bloodstained claws swiping at me ferociously. Maybe he could give me a hint if he did.

He shook his head, whipping white strands of loose hair everywhere. "I haven't the slightest idea, amazon. I should think that's obvious," he hissed rudely. "And seeing as I've yet to visit hell myself," he retorted somewhat sarcastically, swiping at the demon with the bone spear, which promptly became stuck in its adhesive goo.

Piricus growled in frustration and immediately relinquished the now useless weapon. He glared spitefully at the monster, but after a moment that malicious look turned to a ruthless smirk.

"I'm willing to go out on a limb here and bet that lipid-looking flesh on their backs is combustible," he continued with a sinister grin.

"How can you be sure?" I asked, dodging around another narrowly-missed demon strike.

"These little overgrown pustules have the scent of lye in their secretions," he insisted vaguely, jumping aside himself as a slug demon attempted to take a large bite out of his left leg. "Which means," he added darkly, eyeing my now sparking javelin, "that you probably shouldn't—"

"Yeah I know," I finished for him, knowing the warning he was about to give before he even spoke. "Come this way, I have an idea," I continued, a plan forming in my mind.

He snorted sarcastically. "Took you long enough. You need to work on your reaction time, amazon," he taunted snidely.

"Well, I'm faster than you apparently," I shot back with humor, evoking a displeased growl from Piricus as he jumped over a fallen log with his demon chasing him closely.

"Take the high ground," I advised him swiftly, gesturing with my eyes to the tallest portion of dilapidated wall behind us. He didn't need to be told twice. In an impressive display of agility, Piricus vaulted off of a stray stone, grabbed hold of an outer layer of rock and pulled himself atop the wall out of the way. The slug-creature attacking him lost its immediate interest, seeing as how it couldn't instantly access him anymore and turned its attentions to me. I backed up swiftly, maneuvering both demons into alignment. I jumped at the last second, grabbing hold of a low overhanging section of wall behind me and flipped back onto my feet atop it.

One of the little monsters decided it was truly dedicated to the hunt and used its hands to spring unnaturally into the air after me. It actually achieved a surprising four feet of vertical space, and made my plan even easier to act upon. I enhanced the javelin I held with lightning and felt the energy crackle in my grasp along the shaft of my weapon. I aimed and threw it directly into the open mouth of the monster which, skewered, followed the velocity of javelin down and into its fellow on the ground behind it. I suspected that while magic alone might not have been enough to pierce their barriers, something accompanied by physical force might do the trick. It was just a hunch, but it proved correct.

The lye mixed with the lively magic in my javelin and both demons sparked over their entire bodies before exploding violently in a disgusting array of unearthly entrails and fleshy bits. The shockwave of the explosion caused the stone beneath our feet to tremble and wall began to sway dangerously, rocking back and forth. I knew we had seconds before the wall collapsed completely; both Piricus and I quickly vacated our positions in favor of the open ground behind us, landing on our feet as the entire sector of walling that remained crumbled into a pile of unorganized debris and dust with a loud and thunderous noise.

Piricus and I looked to each other in the moments that followed and he clapped. "Impressive. At the rate you're going, there won't be any of Kurast left to inhabit," he said sarcastically, eyeing the wreckage.

"It was going to come down eventually anyway," I snorted with a comical irony, not allowing Piricus' comments to insult me.

Piricus raised a white eyebrow, and then smirked. "True enough. That's the way of all things; they exist for a time and then are destroyed one way or another. Between you and me amazon, I never liked this place anyway," he snorted with a bland humor himself.

"Piricus—" I began, turning serious as several people came running into our area from various directions. I was relieved to see all the members of our group mixed among the crowd.

"What was explosion?" Sovellis asked urgently as he and Vendra pushed their way to the front of the people gathered to determine what was going on.

Vendra snorted laughably when she saw me. "It's Chyemme. Do you really have to ask? She disappears and it's usually followed by a combustion of some sort," she teased.

"Who she's with doesn't help any," Laurella grumbled bitterly as she eyed Piricus next to me.

"Are you alright? What happened?" Ryelass asked me directly, ignoring Piricus completely.

"Wers it another assassin?" Alminus asked quickly with concern.

"No," I assured briskly. "It was much worse," I started, trying to explain everything as swiftly as possible, but struggling to find a quick means of information.

"We found Diablo, fools," Piricus answered for me bluntly.

A stunned silence passed through the gathered masses for moments afterward, and stiffness settled into our group. Ryelass yanked his sword from the sheath and started forward immediately, without looking back. "I'm not going to ask, it'll take too long," he breathed urgently. "Which way?" he demanded simply, but adamantly with a voice full of passionate emotions.

"Straight ahead, midget," Piricus responded briefly, but for once, Ryelass wasn't focused on Piricus or his insults in the slightest.

"How long ago?" Scorpious asked quietly, quickly adding another topic that needed to be addressed. The dead tone in Scorpious' voice scared me, and so did the even look in his eyes. It seemed like his shining eyes had lost all of their righteous light, and his spirit had lost his zeal. Something very real had happened in Scorpious' ill-awaited homecoming, and I was worried beyond words that it had destroyed him. But I didn't have time, as much as it concerned me, to address this issue now. Nobody did. I would just have to pray on the way.

"Five minutes at most, paladin," Piricus responded harshly, but truthfully. "Why is it you're conveniently never around when these things happen?" he chided icily.

"The demon could have taken any number of paths," Cloudyous announced gravely. "And since we can't see through the underbrush, we'll have to send those who can. I'll have Bibo fly ahead of us to be our eyes in the sky. Sky and Belthem will go on the ground and see what they can catch," he asserted as he locked eyes with each of his animal companions in turn. Soundlessly, each left instantly to perform the tasks he'd suggested. The wolves broke into the swiftest run I'd yet to see, disappearing into the thick vegetation in seconds and Bibo was a black blur as she vanished over the horizon.

"Let's go, we can't waste time," Laurella insisted with a dangerously icy tone in her own voice.

"We need 'em ter lower tha barrier," Alminus reminded the group at large in frustration.

"It's clear," came the voice of the assassin, Natalya, from atop a stack of crates to the left. "Go without delay," she insisted, before she vanished into the shadows of a nearby alleyway.

"Ya'd think she'd help us," Alminus grumbled as all of us hurried forward toward the jungles ahead.

"They only care about their own welfare," Vendra growled with animosity.

"She did help us," Scorpious interjected with a solemn stillness in his tone, "She lowered the barrier herself," he informed and moved past Vendra to join Laurella at the head of the group.

"I don't know about the rest of you," Piricus muttered snidely, "But that makes me feel VERY safe here. What, with an assassin in command of all their defenses... that metal mage was right. Sanity IS in short supply here if it exists at all," he growled with clear malcontent.

Together we made our way to the timberline, with each person not present in the initial battle eyeing the exploded demon bits curiously. Vendra wrinkled her nose at the scene, but asked the question on everyone's mind.

"What are those?" she asked me with revulsion.

"Better say, what 'were'," Sovellis corrected her with a small laugh.

"True enough," she snorted.

"I have no idea. But if we run into more of them, they secrete sticky ooze, don't strike them physically. They also have a barrier to purely magical attacks. The ooze is combustible though, that's how I killed them," I explained simply, advising my fellow warriors of their perils at the same time.

"Fascinatin'," Alminus snorted. "N' where exactly did those come from?" he asked interestedly.

"From hell, dimwit. Just like all the rest," Piricus scoffed snidely.

"Cloudyous, have you had any word back yet?" I asked, calling ahead as we took our first steps into the thick, jungle underbrush. We needed a clear direction, and with the amount of thick, hanging vines and plant life suspended between trees and over branches we were dealing with a very limited amount of mobility. The wide, gnarled roots exposed through the dusky-colored, mulch-like soil also posed a problem for any means of swift ground travel. We could clear a path easily enough, but we'd likely only have time to clear one path if we didn't want to lose Diablo's trail.

"None," he stated grimly.

"Why not send Gaia?" Vendra asked him, eyeing the enormous grizzly that lumbered between them tensely. It seemed that every silver-streaked hair on her back was bristling on edge. "Didn't you say back on the boat her sense of smell was greater?"

Cloudyous nodded. "I did. But Gaia's too big to fit through these tight spaces easily. The wolves will be able to move much quicker," he clarified. "And," he added morbidly, "We might need Gaia's strength here with us."

"We need to pick a direction, we can't afford to clear everything," Laurella insisted, mirroring the earlier thoughts on my mind. "Diablo already has a head start," she added icily.

A loud howl in the distance signaled to everyone that one of the wolves was checking in. A second eerie canine cry followed closely behind it, sending pinpricks down the back of my neck.

"What news?" Sovellis asked for us eagerly.

Cloudyous squinted into the dim forest in front of us questioningly, a look Piricus clearly didn't like.

"What's going on druid? Have your mutts gotten lost? Did they find him or not?" he growled in irritation.

Cloudyous shook his head. "No. They've just swept a five mile radius, and they said that there's nothing here. Not even demons. They can't even pick up the scent of anything remotely human," he translated.

"Well that could be the problem, imbecile. Diablo isn't even remotely human," Piricus corrected snidely, referencing to the destroyed vessel that remained of Marcus. I held my breath sharply, this wasn't the way I wanted for Ryelass to hear the news. I was praying to Zerae that he'd been too preoccupied to notice, but as usual those prayers were in vain.

"Marcus is human and Diablo is in Marcus! So yes, he'd be giving off a human scent. You don't know what you're talking about," Ryelass snapped at him crossly.

Piricus raised an ivory-hued eyebrow sadistically. "Wouldn't I? Seeing as I was there in person to cross paths with that thing," he retorted in a cold tone.

Ryelass scoffed at him in disbelief. "And how is it you're still alive then, if you really ran into him?"

It was a valid counter in my opinion, one that the true answer could only be speculated upon.

"You forget who you're talking to short-round," Piricus shot back with a sneer, though I could see the flicker of doubt behind his emerald eyes. I knew he had to be thinking the same thing I had earlier and seriously wonder why the demon even let us live to begin with.

"Well, if you are so high and mighty, jackass, why isn't he dead if you really did cross him?" Vendra interjected, lending Ryelass her support.

"We don't have time for this," I reprimanded the group at large, a strong irritation in my own voice. "Cloudyous, did they find anything at all?" I asked, redirecting the conversation.

"Why do you keep defending him?" Ryelass countered across me, a strong tone of desperation and dislike entering in.

I turned to look Ryelass in his jade-colored eyes. I could see the questioning hurt there, and the fear. He wanted so desperately to believe that Piricus was lying. I didn't need inner sight to tell me that. But I couldn't lie anymore, especially when Piricus had seen him too. Piricus would make a spectacle out of my mistruth should that be what I chose to give, and right now it was something we couldn't afford. For the sake of Ryelass' emotional stability or what little he had left of it.

"I'm sticking up for what he says because it's the truth. I saw him, Ryelass," I announced honestly, though trying through the bluntness of the statement to still be as delicate as I could muster.

Ryelass stopped walking, and fell silent with my words. He stood completely still and remained without speaking for several moments as he eyed me pleadingly. All of his body language, including his eyes, and now his silence, begged me to tell him the untruth he craved to hear.

"….And what is it that you saw?" he finally managed to ask, in a muted voice.

"Amazon, don't be delicate in your reply. Tell it to midget-man here straight, because if he's going to crack completely, I'd much prefer it be out here where nothing's happening and we can end him quickly, than have this refuse happen in the middle of a Trag 'Oul forsaken life or death battle," Piricus warned me icily. "The choice is yours. You tell him or I will," he continued with a malicious glint in his eyes as he looked between Ryelass and I.

"We don't have time for sugar-coatings. Tell me, Chyemme," Ryelass encouraged, a sudden stoutness starting to emerge.

I hesitated for a second, and then drew in a deep breath. "Ryelass, I seriously doubt that Marcus exists anywhere within Diablo anymore. His body, when we saw him, Piricus and me,"I clarified, "Was destroyed beyond any state of mortal repair. There is no way short of heaven itself that, even if we ousted Diablo from within, Marcus would live more than a second or two. That would be only if his soul, which I also doubt is even there anymore, still exists either. Ryelass, I know this isn't what you wanted to hear, but I think for the sake of your own state of mind, you need to declare your brother as completely dead. Tell yourself that Diablo killed him, and now make this about vengeance, instead of salvation. I'm being entirely truthful when I say there's no chance at that left," I informed with the best steely voice I could manage. I definitely didn't want any off sound in my tone to kindle a false hope. That would be devastating. More so, than accepting the truth.

Ryelass' face remained motionless as he listened to my words. It was definitely not the reaction I'd been expecting, and I was beginning to wonder if he'd heard me, or if my words had even registered.

Piricus snorted impatiently. "Choose your course of action, warrior. Either pick vengeance, which I can personally say would make more sense, or pick your own demise. I'll not suffer you to act stupidly and endanger my life because you're too weak to accept the truth without going crazy."

"Piricus is right," Laurella stated evenly, turning to look at Ryelass directly for the first time it seemed, since Lut Gholein. I was extremely surprised; her voice, though still filled with ire, was admittedly much softer than it had been lately. "Make a choice, because he's getting away," she added apathetically, immediately returning to her cold-shoulder demeanor. "And remember you're not the only one who lost someone precious to this bastard," she hissed venomously, more directed at the thought it seemed, than at Ryelass.

Alminus walked over and placed a massive hand on Ryelass' shoulder reassuringly. "Buddy, ya know wha' happened now. It ain't wha' we were hopin' in tha slightest sense, but ya already knew before we even left Harrogath tha' Marcus bein' dead wers a strong possibility. I agree with Chyemme. I think ya should accept yur brother as gone, n' mark that demon Lord o' filth down fur immediate execution n' go forward," he encouraged stoutly. "Ya got alla us here for ya," he added strongly. "Well, most o' us," he corrected with a snort as he looked at Piricus.

"You've come this far," Scorpious suddenly said from the front of the group. "It'd be in vain to fold now," he supplied simply, with none of his usual fervor.

"This true," Sovellis agreed, as he and Vendra nodded at the same time.

Ryelass balled his fists, but then nodded solemnly. "I think I always knew somewhere in my heart it'd come down to that. Can I say that I've given up hope totally, no I cannot. You all might think it's crazy, especially after what I just got told, but I can't force myself to abandon that slim possibility completely. But I can tell you that this isn't going to get in the way, and I won't hesitate to strike a killing blow against that monster if need be. Cloudyous, what are our options as far as moving forward?" Ryelass asked, absolutely resolute.

I didn't like Ryelass' refusal to accept the whole reality, but at least he was being honest and better than that, it seemed like he really was still in a stable frame of mind. This would have to be good enough for now.

Cloudyous scanned the thick jungle plant life with a calculating gaze. "Belthem and Sky are on their way back to us right now. We'll have to wait and see if Bibo was able to find anything," he answered truthfully.

"How long is that going to take?" Piricus asked with an annoyed growl.

"Not long," Cloudyous assured as a black mass approached us from the overhead canopy. Bibo swooped in and landed gracefully on the forearm Cloudyous had extended for her. She and Cloudyous shared a glance between them, and I watched with displeasure as the look on my druid friend's face turned into one of confusion.

"Let me guess," Piricus laughed sourly. "Your pigeon couldn't find him either."

Cloudyous stroked Bibo's breast-feathers reassuringly as he turned back to us. "As crass as that sounds coming from you, Piricus, it's true. She couldn't find anyone either, and she flew out ten miles before she circled back."

"Now what?" Vendra asked skeptically, looking around.

"We know where the demon is headed," Laurella announced nonchalantly. "He's headed to the Zakarum temple, that's what Tyrael told us," she reminded, with a subdued respect in her voice.

Scorpious looked over his shoulder to her questioningly. "The archangel said…" he breathed quietly. "Laurella, could I ask you to fill me in on that experience later, if there is time?" he requested politely with a shimmer of emotion returning to his eyes briefly.

She nodded. "Yeah. If you want I can tell you about it on the way. Scorpious, you know where the temple is, don't you?" she answered simply.

My paladin friend nodded. "I do. It's been…. A long time since I was last there, but despite the jungle's transformation I should still be able to take us there by memory. If I remember correctly, it's a four day journey from Kurast, and that's without _distractions_," Scorpious informed grimly.

"We're bound ter have those. Ya shouldn' even have ta ask," Alminus laughed sarcastically.

Speaking of distractions, it seemed almost trivial, but as Scorpious spoke those very words, my eyes were drawn to a brightly colored bird flying through the treetops overhead. Strange, because I only received a fleeting glance of the creature, but what I did register suggested that this bird had some of the same colors present that Ahmad's amulet held. It had been extremely frustrating for me not to have the opportunity to speak with Asheara, but then again, circumstances had prevented me from doing a lot.

And speaking further of seeing things, I could have sworn as the bird flew out of sight, I saw one of the jungle trees move. I shook my head softly and blinked, trying to clear my vision and see if I still noticed anything strange. As I suspected, when I looked next, I saw that nothing had changed. All the trees were still in the same spot they'd been moments before.

"Chyemme?" Alminus asked me skeptically, seeing the perplexed look I knew must have been on my face.

"It's nothing," I assured, performing another quick sweep of the area with my eyes. "We should move forward," I continued. My gut tensed. On the second glance around the area, I noticed immediately that one of the trees in front of us really had moved. And I don't mean just an inch or two that could be mistaken for the movement of the wind. The whole thing, including the entirety of its seven foot width, was no longer there at all.

Laurella swiftly drew an arrow and lined her bow with it. In one solid motion she turned at the waist and aimed the glinting arrow point directly at me.

"Have you lost your mind?" I half-shouted at her nervously. I was genuinely unsure if she really was going to attack me or not, especially when I hadn't to my knowledge, done anything immediate to her. This was crazy and worse yet, how was I going to respond to this if she did fire at me? How would the others react? As I looked around out of the corner of my eye, they all seemed to be as surprised as me. Even with as much of a pain in the ass she'd been lately, I had no true desire to harm Laurella. And I especially didn't want to kill her, but I also wouldn't just sit idly by and let her hurt me or kill me either. My hand instinctively pulled my javelin into an attack position seeing Laurella's threatening gesture, despite the protests of my mind. This was not how you made friends, as it were. Maybe I could talk her down.

"Laurella," I began hurriedly, fighting back my physiological battle reflexes to lower my javelin slightly.

"I don't what's so great about you," she sneered rudely. "You seem to be going blind. Superior inner sight my ass," she snipped hotly as she loosed the arrow on her bow.

I didn't need to ask what she was talking about. I could feel the movement of whatever creature had shifted into position behind me, and sensed its life energy. It was massive. Big enough even to compare to a tree….

I was very displeased with the fact that Laurella's arrow missed my left cheek by about an inch, even if she was trying to hit something behind me. If I'd have moved even a muscle, she'd have killed me instead. This was absolutely ludicrous and it wasn't something I was going to let slide. When we got a spare moment, she and I were going to have this out. Words and snide body language were things I could easily ignore, actions as blatantly malicious as this one weren't. The other factor of Laurella's close-flying projectile I didn't like was that it limited my own response time. I had to stay still to let the arrow pass me before I could turn and in battle, that split second could be a life or death difference.

A loud bellow, sounding like a huffing elephant out of breath shook the air from behind me. I turned the instant the arrow passed out of range from my body and quickly launched my own javelin after Laurella's arrow.

The arrow Laurella fired earlier burst into a powerful flame and actually exploded as it made impact with the new creature. This new monstrosity, oddly enough, looked very much like a walking tree, though it had no leaves or greenery over its body. The whole monster consisted of four, thick, branch-like appendages; two it walked on like feet and two it used like gargantuan clubs. The center of this new demon was a melding of all four appendages and its main body continued past the creature's arms into an oblong head that appeared to have knurly wooden protrusions for eyes. Gigantic, triangular-looking barbs having the appearance of serrated shark's teeth lined the arboreal body of this beast at haphazard intervals and even the head produced two elongated, razor-lined thorns.

The new demon shrieked as the fire of Laurella's arrow pierced into the wooden bulk of its left arm, leaving a sizeable black spot before the flames died out. My javelin, which I'd enhanced with lightning, struck a spot on the demon's chest to the right of Laurella's arrow and embedded itself deeply into the thick of this monster. The lightning sparked and sputtered through the javelin but didn't go any further into the creature than its timbered exterior. I watched, frustrated as my electrical energy traveled over the creature's wood-like skin and then down and out through its rooted feet.

Seeing as I was the closer target, the demon chose to come after me with its vengeance. It swung a massive spiked arm down toward my body with the force of an earthquake. I ran towards it and rolled over top of one of its rooted feet, avoiding what would have been an instantaneously fatal crushing blow.

The creature's thorns uprooted the black and soggy soil like a monstrous plow where it struck the ground, and coated us all in a layer of dark muck as it folded back for another attack. The demon paid me no heed, even though I was under its body, and swung its twin mauls in line for a different target. Vendra had been the closest to me, and she became the monster's next involuntary focus. She had no room to dodge something that massive in such a confined space, so in a blink, she teleported herself into a tight space behind the demon. Taking note of Laurella's minor accomplishment, she blasted it with a towering jet of inferno from her bare hands.

The amount of energy Vendra placed into her fire spell was substantial and I watched as the orange flames climbed effectively up its lower limbs and midway up its trunk. The gargantuan tree demon began to shriek in agony and writhe as the fire penetrated the thick, knotted surface of its wood-like skin. Sovellis carefully maneuvered himself into range in front of the creature and raised his dark arms to finish Vendra's work from the front.

He managed to start the fire spell from one arm before several wisps of lime-colored vines burst through the jungle confines and ensnared his other with monstrous force. The animated vines yanked Sovellis' arm back with a sickening crack, and he howled in pain. His scream of misery was simultaneously mimicked by Vendra, whom clutched her left arm in obvious agony. She sank to her knees, unable to cast even as Sovellis was dragged through the thick underbrush at an alarming rate towards a foe we'd yet to see.

Alminus had been the closest to him and hastily raced to help him, slicing broadly with wide swings of his monstrous axe. Alminus' strikes easily cleared away the hindering vegetation in his path, including some sizeable branches and low-hanging tree trunks, but he was still moving too slowly to reach Sovellis in time. My barbarian friend paused for a moment, before settling onto his shins in a crouch. In an amazing display of strength, Alminus launched himself through the air in an impressive leap that cleared him off the ground a fair fifteen feet at least. He took aim while he fell swiftly through the air, dodging trees, vines, and branches as best he could before bringing his axe blade crashing down through everything underneath himself. His strike finished four feet in front of Sovellis' head as he was being dragged and definitely severed something living. Sapphire-blue muck that smelled like rotting ferns mixed with fermented apples sprayed around the two of them like rainwater and an anguished series of groans sounded from somewhere to the left.

"WATCH OUT-!" I tried to warn my barbarian friend, but my warning didn't come in time. Another monster, much like the first that was still on fire, appeared to his left through the jungle trees, swinging an enormous appendage at him that broke several of the wide tree trunks beside him into splinters. The debris fell heavily around Alminus and Sovellis, and a large fragment of fungus-coated branching actually impaled Alminus' right shoulder through his toughened skin.

The monster, now having a clear strike at the two of them without obstacles, drew back its arm to strike once more. Sovellis seemed to have regained enough of himself to protect Alminus and himself, the monster brought its thorn-lined arm down on a rippling blue mana shield with punishing force. The arcane barrier crackled dangerously and rippled with a shockwave of light, signaling Sovellis was probably near his limit with his injury.

I looked around myself for anything I could use to help them. Lightning wasn't harmful to these creatures, it seemed like only fire would do the trick. I took careful inventory and decided that I could use the earthy debris around them, the wood bits and the dryer variety of leaves as kindling for a fire. I chose an area that was rich with such material, and then threw a lightning javelin into the middle of the spot. Sparks flew around in all directions, and while most of them died in the wet climate, a few did the job I had intended and ignited a growing blaze beneath the monster's feet.

With the attacking demon distracted by the fire, Sovellis was able to teleport himself and Alminus back into the center of our group safely where Ryelass had already moved the injured Vendra. He slouched considerably, still in an enormous amount of hurt. Alminus looked at his injured shoulder with irritation and without another word; he yanked the thick wooden spike out of his body as though it were nothing more than a splinter.

Behind us, Laurella had been darting in-between trees and vines taking more fire-enhanced shots at the already ignited demon that had first attacked us. Scorpious and Ryelass were trying as best they could from the ground to help her, though their attacks were doing nothing at all.

Scorpious paused for a moment to watch the fights around himself carefully and then began chanting, weaving words that created a new aura around our bodies. This new aura was orange and flickered in waves of rolling light that were speckled with ruby red dots.

"Try it now," Scorpious encouraged to us at large. "It should help," he assured as he pulled his blessed sword into his hand vertically. He followed the burning monster's path with his eyes and then threw his entire sword like a knife into the demon's capital point of connection. Scorpious' sword burst into a powerful ruby-red blaze and sliced cleanly into the body of the screeching demon. The brambled mass that served as its head fell heavily to the ground still aflame with a loud clunk. The rest of the demon's burning body followed soon after.

"Payback time," Alminus growled and together he and Ryelass rushed the creature that attacked him earlier. Seeing as how Scorpious' aura had imbued our attacks with flame, all of us turned to attacking the demon that remained, though something wasn't sitting right with me. Or Piricus for that matter, it seemed. Instead of attacking the tree demon, he was just standing around, looking in all directions.

"What are you waiting for?" I asked him in concern as I launched a fire-laden javelin into the center of the wooden demon, aided by Scorpious' aura.

Piricus scoffed. "How typical is it for all of you to attack the one you can see? Yes, amazon, let's all attack the one, focus all our efforts there so the one that got the sorcerer to begin with can ambush us? I'm wondering where that son of a bitch went," he said casually.

"Are you suggesting," I started, stunned, "that it's using that one as a distraction?" I asked, gesturing to the visible demon in our midst.

"Are you deaf?" Piricus retorted sarcastically. "That's what I just said," he growled as he eyed the jungle wilds with mistrust.

"It's a high probability," Cloudyous answered, moving beside us. "That's what I've been expecting as well," he clarified, explaining his absence in this particular battle. "I've been analyzing its possible prey drives, and I think it's very possible that it is trying to distract us. These beings are known as the Devadra to my people, or tree-keepers if you will. They are," Cloudyous informed with a rueful sigh, "supposed to be-"

"Peaceful?" Piricus snorted in dark humor. "Druid, if I were you I'd forsake that fool's philosophy. Nothing we've run into on this happy little trip has been serene, especially not your ill-tempered furry friends," he replied snidely, giving the two wolves and Gaia a contemptuous glance.

"True enough," Cloudyous agreed reluctantly. "But besides that, there are different varieties of these creatures and each acts and feeds differently. These two that we can see are called by natives 'Thorned Hulks', a poor classification that doesn't divulge much if you ask me, but local myth means more than respected fact out here," he continued.

"The thing that attacked Sovellis isn't one of them, is it?" I deduced quickly. "These things aren't covered in vines."

"No, it's not," Cloudyous affirmed. "Well, in all fairness, it could be, but this one could just be warped," he corrected. "Well, more than the others anyway," he added grimly.

"Cut to the point bear-boy," Piricus grumbled crossly as he continued to scan the jungles for the slightest movements out of place.

"It has a hit and run strategy," Cloudyous finished. "As I'm sure you could tell when Alminus injured it and it didn't show itself."

"We need to draw it out," I announced, a plan formulating in my mind.

"It will only strike if it perceives us as preoccupied," Cloudyous advised. "Piricus and I have been looking for it, that's why it hasn't attacked yet."

"What will happen when the others finish off the one meant to distract us?" I asked.

"It'll ambush us on the way home or when we least expect it Amazon, use your brain," Piricus snorted, rolling his eyes.

Cloudyous nodded. "Probably. Chyemme I assume you were thinking the same thing I was?" he asked curiously. "That we bait a trap for it before it can trap us?"

"Yes," I affirmed. That had been my plan exactly. "But which one of us do you think would be the most effective in killing it quickly?"

Piricus opened his mouth to say something but Cloudyous interrupted him. "I think, as strange as it sounds, I would be the best choice in that regard. As much as I despise having to destroy nature's esteemed creations, I don't have a choice anymore. They can't be redeemed and they're too dangerous to be left alone. My elemental powers will be the most effective at ending this wayward Devadra quickly. The better question is, which of you will be the most effective bait," Cloudyous said with a slightly humorous smile looking between Piricus and me.

"I don't do helpless," Piricus retorted sarcastically. "Ask the amazon."

"Funny," I snorted, though amused. "That's exactly what I thought you were going to say. So Cloudyous, since I'm the one getting my hands dirty," I chuckled looking at Piricus playfully, "How's this going to work?"

Cloudyous considered to himself for a moment. We only need two people for this, Piricus why don't you help the others?" he suggested with a shrug.

"More like finish it off for them," Piricus sighed irritably. "You want something done right," he muttered. "I don't know why you'd want to trust him with your life, amazon. The man wears a dead beaver for a shawl," Piricus taunted nonchalantly, but then turned his back, though stiffly to join the others of our group.

Cloudyous and I shared a strange expression between us. If I didn't know better, I would think that Piricus' last comment might have been some kind of weird, mutilated concern. Why would he even have bothered to breathe that sentence about Cloudyous or me entrusting my life to him?

"That was slightly more bizarre than normal," Cloudyous grinned. "Anyway, Chyemme just stand right here, throw a javelin or two if you can at the other demon and I'll pretend to do the same. I'm going to have Belthem and Sky stand on either side of you in case something happens, though I've told them to stand still for now and look away," he assured.

I eyed the two wolves with a comical question coming to mind as they stepped into place. "Hey Cloudyous, is that really a beaver skin around your neck?" I asked with an amused grin.

Cloudyous chuckled humorously. "No. But he was close. It's a muskrat. Are you ready?" he asked, moving into position himself far to my right, but closer to the back of the group.

"Yes," I affirmed and turned my back stiffly to the wilderness behind me. I didn't like the idea of being exposed in the slightest, but then again that was the whole purpose of bait. This had to be believable or the demon would stay hidden and that could cause a serious problem for us later. At least I wasn't totally unaware of my situation or my surroundings, but that begged the question, why hadn't my inner sight alerted me to the demon's presence beforehand? The one standing right behind me that Laurella had shot? To be honest, that was entirely embarrassing. As an amazon with trained inner sight I should have been able to hone in on that energy much sooner than I had and moreover this was definitely not something I wanted to continue hearing from Laurella. I guess I had just been truly distracted. In our state of emergency, I'd been seeking one very specific, dangerous demon lord. Maybe subconsciously I had tuned my senses into that search exclusively. I breathed in deeply. Whatever the case, I would be more careful from now on.

I allowed fire to flow from Scorpious' aura to wrap around my arms and through the javelin I had prepared, though I didn't see the need to launch it. The others' combined fire attacks, now joined by a weakening curse from Piricus and a half-hearted wind spell by Cloudyous to stoke the flames had nearly taken the giant tree-monster down already. I decided for the moment to hold onto my javelin. Throwing it would be a waste when the creature was imminently about to die, and believe it or not these weapons weren't cheap to acquire or even easy to come by. The rogue monastery used to be a trading pass and Lut Gholein was the trade capital of the world, so javelins hadn't truly been a problem thus far, but I strongly suspected with the native populace in shambles in more ways than one and Kurast being as run down as it was, my exotic weapons would be difficult to come by out here.

Instead, I opted for pretending to take exaggerated aim. I moved my javelin from one minute angle to the next, acting like I couldn't get a clear view. Perhaps it would be enough for the demon, but if not I would just have to submit to the loss of equipment.

All of us now effectively had our backs turned to the deep jungles behind us; I knew the demon wouldn't waste the opportunity. I reached out with my inner sight, exuding only a slight amount of energy so as not to create an illuminated trail. At first, it was like before. I could only sense the energy of trees and a few minor animals like some type of lizard as they scurried by away from our violent battle. But then, slowly and surely as I focused more and more on our immediate area, I began to notice what I previously thought to be vines start to snake along the jungle floor and twist towards us like a silent predator.

I followed the trail mentally, intrigued that somehow these creatures had only a fraction of difference in their energy patterns than the actual trees rooted into the earth. That would explain why they were so hard to detect, you'd have to actually be looking for them to notice them out of their natural environment. The sensations of my inner sight clustered onto a large tree to the right and behind us, only I knew it was not an actual tree. The vines were coming from there, and just underneath them I could distinguish an individualistic demon that had distinguishing characteristics from the rest. Its barbs were longer, and narrower instead of the chunky thorns the other behemoths had. This demon was also thinner than the rest, instead of a wide base it seemed more like a sapling. The concealed creature also had two discernable eyes whereas the rest did not. My mind showed me the creature was eyeing me with glassy, black orbs.

I could actually start to hear the vines as they crept along through the decaying, moist jungle foliage. It was a low sound, like a scampering rabbit almost. Out of the corner of his eyes, I saw Cloudyous watching me intently. He knew like I did the thing would strike at any moment. As I concentrated, I began to count down. Three, two, one….

The lime-green demonic appendages twirled around my right foot. I knew that I had to act soon, or like Sovellis, the demon would snap my bones through my body when it yanked. I took the flame enhanced javelin and drove it sharply downwards, pinning the green demonic vine to the floor. Rank-smelling blue demon's blood sprayed into the air and over my armor before the demon's limb caught fire.

The creature behind us wailed once more in misery and two more leaf-colored wisps of demon darted out of the jungle behind me aimed at my midsection. These two extensions were not meant to grab or entangle, they were barbed at the end and meant to kill.

I dodged nimbly to the side of one, and to my surprise, the brown she-wolf Sky caught the end of the appendage in her teeth. Belthem was quick to react also; he fearlessly intercepted the other whip-like line in his own fangs. Both wolves immediately started to clamp down on the demon's outstretched parts and tug as if they were playing a game with demented rope. Blood poured over the pair of them as their mighty wolves' jaws crunched through thickened layers of demon, but despite the rancid smell and I'm sure, the less than palatable taste neither relinquished their hold.

It was obvious that this tree creature was too strong for them; both wolves were rapidly losing ground in their attempts to anchor the flailing extensions. Instead of holding it steady, both of them were being dragged forward, closer to the jungle and the awaiting monster within. The two wolves managed through intense struggle to move themselves into a side by side position, aligning the two demonic tendrils together. I was pleasantly surprised when Gaia the grizzly walked over to them and proceeded to lend assistance by taking the two parallel vines in her own massive jaws. The grizzly bellowed through gritted teeth, a menacing sound if I do say so myself and began to shake the demon's limbs mercilessly at the center while the wolves continued to shred into them at the back.

Between my burning javelin and Cloudyous' three animal companions we had managed to immobilize the strange demon momentarily. Now was the time to strike before it could retreat and hide again. I illuminated the way with my inner sight fully, providing a clear target for Cloudyous, which in the dense, green-hued jungles would have been otherwise invisible.

He nodded to me appreciatively and began to chant a spell in the druidic language. As he did, I felt the very elements around us begin to weave together in a formidable combination, fire, wind, and surprisingly earth and water as well. The ground in front of us began to roll, before sputtering and producing a mass of flame from beneath its surface, which miraculously, never broke open. The flame lashed out savagely, like a striking snake itself as it traveled toward the stunned demon. The small line of fire flickered into a broad, slicing fan just before it impacted the creature. The first wave of flame cut cleanly through the bottom portions of monster just as a second wave of deadly flame minced its middle. A final and vibrant layer of flame from Cloudyous' spell radiated out and decapitated what remained of the demon on the top layers. The charred, smoldering remains fell in ashy clumps to the floor, completely lifeless. The vines his animal friends had been restraining went instantly limp and as if planned or perhaps a shared distaste between the three of them, they all spit out the limbs with soured animalistic expressions and blue-painted maws.

Sky whined and extended her splotched tongue outside of her mouth, causing Cloudyous to laugh heartily. I grinned too. That must have been the wolf equivalent of a human gag.

"I don't blame you," he chuckled with mirth. "That smells nasty to me; I can only imagine how it tastes to you three."

Seemingly upon hearing his laughter, Gaia gave a disgruntled, crisp snort. She lumbered over to him purposefully and without another sound licked his surprised face thoroughly, splattering the disgusting demon blood on him too. Cloudyous wasn't laughing anymore, though I was heavily. He coughed, sputtered, and tried desperately to cleanse his face with his bracers and sleeves, but to no avail.

He snorted, managing to choke on the stench even more. "You're right! You're right!" he insisted defensively. "This IS vile."

"What are you laughing at back there, druid?" Piricus' cold voice reprimanded harshly. "No, amazon," he added in annoyance as he took note of my laughter as well, "take a vacation, just stand there and let me do the work," he growled as the tree demon the group had been collectively working on combusted behind us.

"What are you talking about," I shot back teasingly. "Standing around is hard work, especially when you're bait. You wouldn't fill that position, remember?"

"It's too bad," Ryelass interrupted with antipathy. "He could do with a little strangulation."

"He'd be a lil' less vocal. Tha's fur sure," Alminus snorted as he walked over. He took a look at the charred demon remains in front of us and touched his injured shoulder, which was not so much bleeding anymore as oozing a yellowed puss-like fluid."Son o' a bitch, how'd ya get tha' one?" he asked, impressed. "Ya can't see it fur tha trees," he remarked truthfully, gazing at what was left of its original coloration on a severely disfigured limb.

"Inner sight," Cloudyous remarked simply with a smile at me through his blood-encrusted face.

"And a brilliant predator-prey theory," I added, giving him his due credit as well.

"And let's not forget a pitifully life-endangering diversion," Piricus snorted sarcastically.

"You say that like you're almost concerned," I replied playfully.

Piricus scowled at me in reply. "I'm just saying that the lot of you are ass-backwards. You place no value on your own lives. A sentiment that I, myself do not mimic. Better the lot of you, than the one of me," he countered briskly.

"Yeah yeah, save it," Alminus huffed irritably, and scratched his skin just below his draining wound.

"You need to have that looked at," I insisted firmly. "I don't know how it got there so quickly, but it looks infected," I warned. "And speaking of injuries," I asked in concern, "How are Vendra and Sovellis?"

"They need to see a healer with skills greater than mine," Scorpious announced regretfully as he assisted Vendra on one arm. Sovellis was walking painfully beside them, though I could tell that Scorpious had at least been able to lessen their feelings of agony.

"Ooh paladin, it seems like your home and your Order aren't the only things that have gone to hell in a hurry," Piricus taunted snidely. "Last month broken bones wouldn't have been an issue for you."

Scorpious glowered at Piricus with a startling emotion flickering behind his brown eyes. If I didn't know better, I'd say it was contempt. I was starting to become increasingly concerned, but just as soon as the ire entered my paladin friend's eyes, it died away again and was replaced by that same, morose sorrow he held as of late.

"Waste whatever words you like on me, Piricus. They hardly matter anymore," Scorpious countered glumly. "The truth is that their arms have been almost powdered in three places. There's barely anything left to restore. They need to see a more seasoned healer before they can continue on this journey at all. And Alminus, I believe I can effectively heal most of your wound out here, but it wouldn't hurt for you to see one either," he announced plainly in a soft-spoken tone.

Alminus nodded as he walked over. "Do wha' ya can fur it now," he requested politely. "It's startin' ter itch li' ya wouldn't believe," he added in annoyance as he reached to scratch his already inflamed skin once more.

Scorpious nodded and I watched his subtle, white-blue healing glow wash through his colored hands. This particular glow had a small amount of greenish colored light and I observed as Scorpious cleansed the infection across Alminus' injured skin and closed the wound. When Scorpious was finished, the area around Alminus' injury looked much better, though it still maintained heavy bruising around the edges. The ooze was gone, though the areas of his flesh the ooze had touched were still slightly inflamed.

Once finished Alminus returned to his feet and stretched his healed skin. He rotated his shoulder back and forth with an appreciative nod. "Much better, thanks Scorpious," he stated in gratitude.

"What's this thing?" Laurella asked to the group in general as she moved aside a smoking pile of demonic ash with the end of her bow. There, beneath the scorched debris was a small, gem-like object starting to protrude.

"Looks like some type of gem," Ryelass answered and as he walked over to examine it for himself Laurella backed away with a scowl.

"Come on now," Ryelass protested to her softly, almost painfully. "I'm not allowed to answer a general question?"

"You do whatever the hell you want," she hissed nastily and thereafter fell harshly silent.

"Laurella," he began again, almost desperately.

"We don't have time for this love triangle garbage," Piricus spat irritably, walking over himself. "Both of you go do something productive, like either making up or killing each other," he added crossly. He paid them no further mind as he kicked the obscuring soot away from whatever Laurella had spotted with the side of his boot. When the covering sediment was gone, we all were looking in confusion at a small, jade figurine.

"How the hell did that end up here?" Ryelass asked, trying with extreme difficulty it seemed, to ignore Piricus' last insult.

"It looks like it was inside of the demon for whatever reason," I concluded, seeing as it had come from within a sturdy pile of ash that very recently had been living tissue.

"It could have been in the ground," Laurella suggested, though glaring at me spitefully.

"Not likely," Cloudyous answered, checking it over for himself with his eyes. "The energies it's covered in aren't natural. They're demonic."

"Thrilling," Vendra muttered miserably. "We found a trinket in the middle of nowhere. Can we just stuff it in a bag or something and leave?" she protested in pain. "Maybe we can ask the elder about it later," she added in agony as she tried not to move her broken arm.

Sovellis groaned as well. "I agree. Feisty one and me, we must see healer soon," he furthered suggestively in obvious discomfort.

"That's true," Scorpious supported. "Neither of you are fit to continue like this and if we don't heal your arms soon, they'll likely become a source of internal infection and may become fatal. There's no way either of you can fight like this," he reasoned aloud.

"What about Diablo?" Laurella interjected suddenly with a strong tone of impatience in her voice.

"That makes me feel great," Vendra growled at her nastily, clearly displeased with the notion, like I would be myself, that Laurella might be more concerned with chasing shadows than taking care of her friends.

"That's not what I meant. I never said we shouldn't go back," Laurella argued bitterly. "Don't put words in my mouth," she growled.

"I don't know what it was that Piricus and Chyemme ran across," Scorpious began dubiously, stopping the fight like usual, though more out of habit than anything else. "But there is nothing out here, at least not right now anyway. Let's go back to the docks, heal our injured, stock up on the supplies we'll need, and check in with the Iron Wolves. Maybe one of them on patrol will have seen something. In either case we'll need to be as prepared as we can, and believe me when I say we will need everyone," Scorpious declared adamantly, looking around at each of us in turn, even Piricus, "if we are going to even stand a chance at triumphing in Travincal against…" he uttered painfully, "against the old order," he finished at last with more substance. "Let's get going," he finished nonchalantly as he started back the way we came, escorting Vendra and walking alongside Sovellis.

"I think Vendra's right. We should ask the Elder about this later," Ryelass muttered, more to himself than anyone and plucked the jade figurine off the ground. He stowed it in a side pouch on his belt as the group headed somberly and with tension back toward the Kurast Docks.

As if he had somehow been notified, Hratli, the mage whom had been there to greet us on our arrival from the oceanfront, was standing at the edge of the outer, crumbling stone wall upon our return. With him were the assassin, Natalya, whom despite her recent efforts, I still didn't trust, and some other man I'd yet to meet.

This new man was very, very tall. He and Sovellis looked as if they could be kin in that regard, though his skin was too light to be compared to anyone from Sovellis' biological bloodline. This new man was completely bald and was covered all over his tanned skin with red tattoos, some of which formed symbols I could discern and others that made no logical sense to me. His chest was bare, save for the outlandish number of tattoos and below that around his waist he wore a simple magi's skirt with a golden belt. He held in his thin, muscled arms a golden staff with an arcane emblem emblazoned upon the top. This new man had a highly magical feel about him, and oddly, he was giving off a warm, trust-worthy even, aura. His light brown eyes, though they were physically hard and deep set into his face, seemed to emotionally welcome the sight of us and were quite soft.

Hratli sighed when he saw us, and then shrugged. "I'm guessing your endeavor wasn't successful?" he asked in his aloof, almost disinterested voice.

"That would be obvious, wouldn't it?" Piricus snapped at him irritably. "And an understatement," he snarled, though the snarl came when his eyes crossed over Natalya.

Natalya merely shrugged off his harshness and obvious malice as she eyed the two of my injured Zhan-Esu friends. "Occupational hazard slow you down, I take it?" she asked, though there truly seemed to be some sort of actual human decency in her words as she said them. It was almost as if the fact Vendra and Sovellis were mages didn't matter to this woman, she was treating them like she would anyone else. And while this factor was pleasing on the surface, it alarmed me on the inside. It seriously made me wonder what was wrong with this assassin, or if she was hiding something like a dark trap, just waiting to lure us in.

"More like habitual hazards," Piricus growled irately under his breath. "Who are you?" he directed snappishly at the newcomer.

The new man just nodded simply. "You now speak to Ormus," he announced simply, but with respect.

"And that's supposed to mean what to me exactly?" Piricus continued rudely.

"Ormus is quite possibly the strongest mage in our…endearing home," Hratli answered loftily. "Meaning he's also the most skilled healer we have. He could sense your…disappointing day and knew that some of you required his assistance. Natalya and I came so we could lower the barrier and let you back inside," he finished.

I blinked as Hratli spoke those words. As I looked at Ormus next, a tingle of recognition passed through my spine. My mother had told me that a Junta-Devou would soon become available if I had none and for some reason I had the inexplicable urge that I was looking at him. I shook my head blandly for a moment, trying to will this bizarre, misplaced sense of trust for a man I'd just laid eyes upon out of my mind. The inkling was there, but I would not trust this man with something of this dire importance just like that. No, I would have to speak with him in private and get a feel for his intentions before I ever breathed a word about that predicament.

"You just knew we needed to be healed?" Vendra asked, though respectfully, through gritted teeth to the new mage, Ormus.

He nodded simply. "Ormus knows a great many things, young sorceress. Ormus knows even, of your shared bond with your companion," he answered mystically, gesturing with a hand to Sovellis.

"What Ormus have us do?" Sovellis asked himself, though politely as well.

Ormus gave Sovellis a reassuring smile. "Ormus sees that the young mage prefers Ormus' own language. Ormus welcomes him to use it in their conversations; he has not heard it in some time. Come, you will follow Ormus and he will treat your injuries. Ormus also advises your large friend to come too," he offered gently, beckoning to Alminus as well.

Alminus merely shrugged and followed Vendra and Sovellis as they disappeared following the enigmatic new mage.

Natalya watched them go, then turned to us. "It's nearing nightfall. Even if your friends are healed before the darkness comes it wouldn't be wise to venture out at night. Hratli and I have taken the liberty of preparing a few huts for your group to stay in while you're here. They're not much," she explained nonchalantly, "but they are out of the way and will keep you safe from the unstable townsfolk," she added, directed mainly at Scorpious, whom grimaced.

"Thank you," he managed simply after a moment. I didn't need to be told that this woman, Natalya, though she was vastly different, was causing several painful memories of Maria to surface for him.

"You think, as a necromancer, I'm going to stay in a chamber prepared by a Viz-Jaq'Taar? What kind of a fool do you take me for, _assassin_?" Piricus hissed dangerously.

Natalya stared him down bluntly. "You are wise not to be so blindly trusting, but had I wanted you dead, believe me, you would be by now. These accommodations are of course, merely recommendations. No one is forcing you to stay there against your will necromancer. You are free to stay where you will. The same goes for all of you. However, if you should choose the huts," she finished nonchalantly and withdrew a ring of iron keys from her pocket, "Hratli will gladly show you the way," she assured, tossing the keys to Scorpious, whom fumbled clumsily for a moment to catch them before dropping them.

Natalya vanished in a swirl of ebony-colored mist, causing a tension to pass through my spine. The others, I had noticed, including Cloudyous had watched Scorpious' ill-coordinated catch with concern.

"Are you alright, Scorpious?" Cloudyous asked him hesitantly after a moment.

He waved his armored hand dismissively. "I'm fine. I just think we all need to rest a while," he lied plainly, though Cloudyous didn't question him any further. "So what's it to be, Piricus?" Scorpious asked him with a wearied tone. "Are you coming with us?"

Piricus scoffed, and then rolled his eyes sarcastically. "Paladin, why must you continue to ask me questions you already know the answer to? I would not share space with the lot of you for all of Sanctuary. Especially not one prepared by one of _them_," he continued with animosity.

"Suit yourself," Scorpious responded blandly as Piricus began walking away.

I decided to go with my gut instinct and follow him. Maybe now was the perfect time to talk to him. "I'll catch up with you later," I announced to the group unceremoniously before walking quickly after Piricus. I especially wanted to leave before Ryelass, Laurella, or anyone else could stop me.

"Wait for me," I called out to Piricus ahead of me, stunned that those words had actually left my own mouth.

I wasn't surprised or insulted when he didn't stop walking, but I was stunned when he did significantly slow down, allowing me to catch up to him. He continued forward without looking at me or saying a word.

"I want to talk to you," I confessed after a minute's worth of walking in silence.

"You are," he said with a slight annoyance. "And that always seems to happen regardless of what I do to discourage you," he added snidely.

"Yeah," I countered, feeling slightly cocky, "That's usually what has to happen for human beings to communicate. Well, effectively anyway," I corrected.

Piricus glared at me over his shoulder. His eyes were still steely, but there was a calculating glance behind them. I had the distinct impression he wanted to ask me something.

"What is it?" I asked him, being direct.

"What are you babbling about, amazon?" he growled. "I didn't say anything."

I grinned. "No, but that's the other part about interpersonal communication. Sometimes, you just know," I teased lightly.

"Why have you chosen to pester me? I think the warrior would be more than happy to indulge you in mindless chatter if his jealous girlfriend doesn't kill you first," he retorted rudely.

I sighed heavily, letting my shoulders sag and Piricus laughed impolitely. "I saw what she did to you out in the jungle. She's getting a little cheeky, amazon. If I were you, I'd put her into place quickly or she might actually attempt to murder you," he taunted snidely.

"Don't remind me," I groaned in my own frustration.

"Well then, if you aren't here for my relationship advice," he mocked sarcastically.

"Amorous advice coming from you?" I laughed, a true amusement contained within. That would be an awkward conversation if ever there was once. I could very literally see Piricus telling me something like 'Just curse the imbecile, or threaten him until he submits'. I chuckled again, evoking a displeased expression from him.

How ironic, because in all reality, the only relationship I wanted to be in romantically was one with him. Maybe that would be a topic I could breech after talking about the others. "That would be a sight to see," I answered humorously. "No, I definitely didn't want to talk about that. I was actually speaking to Elder Cain about this necklace," I began, fishing it out from under my armored breastplate, "And he said that he didn't know much about it, but maybe you might," I relayed, presenting it to him.

Piricus eyed the object oddly while we walked, but said nothing for a moment. "And why are you presenting me with a feathered trinket? I should think you'd ask the druid first, seeing as he's the bird-brain," he said with a derogatory disrespect.

"The Elder said it contained a living essence within it. He said as a necromancer, you might be able to tell me more about it," I admitted, hopeful that the Elder had been correct.

Piricus raised a milky eyebrow as we turned a corner into some shadier part of the shielded docks. The sickly oceanic slime was in wider abundance here, and what very little light there was before seemed to give way completely to shadow. There was a stale, rotting musk in the water under our feet and seemingly nothing in this part of the boardwalk.

Once we were out of sight, Piricus actually stopped walking. Surprised, I stopped too and instantly checked our surroundings, alert to every minute detail.

Piricus watched me with an amused smirk. "You're wising up to their ways swiftly," he admitted darkly, in reference to the assassin order. "That's right, check the shadows, check the floor, check the ceiling. Check every nook and cranny and live the rest of your life like a frightened mouse," he snorted in distain.

I crossed my arms irritably. "You just stopped so suddenly. I wanted to make sure," I admitted, feeling uneasy about this new surrounding long before we'd stopped walking. "And for the record, I killed that last one that attacked me," I declared, un-intimidated.

Piricus nodded slyly, then walked over to a long-abandoned wooden crate and seated himself on top of it, looking at me skeptically. "Yes, and now you just have to worry about the one after that, and then the one that follows that one. And then the three or four they'll send to avenge them, then their bastard commanders," he drawled dangerously. "But," he said dismissively, "I doubt that's why you chased after me either. Honestly though, I find it hard to believe you really decided to risk life and limb to ask me about a tacky piece of body adornment," he responded sarcastically, eyeing the strange necklace as it dangled around my neck and over my armor.

I removed the necklace from my body and held it in my hands. That same, bizarre tingle washed through my fingertips as I made contact with the vibrant feathers. "Actually, it was the main reason," I admitted truthfully. Well, that statement was mostly true anyway. "But," I replied deductively, "It seems you wanted to speak to me as well. You didn't automatically tell me to disappear when I started after you," I reminded.

Piricus' steely gaze didn't soften a bit as he continued to stare me down from where he sat. His expression didn't change and his voice was surprisingly cold when he answered. "Yes, that's true. Your inner sight tell you that or did you figure that one out all by yourself?"

"I could tell by the way you were summing me up like a palace mathematician," I retorted boldly. "If you want to go first, I'll answer whatever questions or the like you have," I assured with a strange tightening in my chest. This was definitely unusual, for Piricus to actually want to speak to somebody. And even stranger still, that someone was me. Maybe he was going to talk about Diablo, and for that, I really had no answers.

"I think I will," Piricus said plainly. "Amazon, how well do you think you know me?" he asked suddenly, without losing the dangerous, even sincerity in his voice.

I blinked in surprise. What a random and seemingly odd thing to ask me, especially out here over a leaky boardwalk and a deserted stretch of foul ocean. I titled my head to the side slightly, unsure of what he was trying to get at.

"Well?" he asked me impatiently smacking his foot against the bottom of the crate irritably when I didn't answer immediately.

"I'd have answered sooner," I started in confusion, "But I have no idea what you mean by that."

He sighed, exasperated. "I'm speaking plan common, what didn't you understand?" he growled in frustration. He ran a pale finger across his temple, which oddly enough my inner sight told me he was because he was developing a headache. "Never mind," he interjected snappishly before I could reply. "Let's try this. Amazon, tell me everything you know about the Priests of Rathma," he demanded bluntly.

I stared him down oddly, but decided to humor his request and see if I could decipher where this was headed. "I know that their common name is necromancer," I started, making Piricus glower at me, un-amused.

"Very good amazon, for a toddler. Speed it up a bit," he insisted impatiently.

"Are you going to let me talk?" I shot back hotly, but then calmed myself. "The Priests of Rathma are masters of the undead, of poisons, and dark magic like curses. Apparently you have a home somewhere here in Kurast, and your leader is called Lord Rathma," I summarized blandly. "To be honest I don't really know anything more than general knowledge. The only other thing I've learned is that your art is supposed to be a balance between life and death energy, which is why I came to you about the necklace," I replied.

Piricus seemed satisfied with this, or perhaps just bored. He continued to glare at me, but asked me another question. "So then Amazon, what do you know about me?" he repeated in an icy voice.

I paused for a minute, still uncertain what I was supposed to be telling him. If he really wanted my version of him, where should I start? There were so many things. I finally decided to start at the beginning.

"I know your name," I snorted comically. "I know how old you are. I know where I found you. I know that you despise paladins and assassins. I know that you had a friend named Darius, and that the two of you were buying illegal poisons, though as to why, I have no idea. As far as personally, I'd say that I probably know you better than anyone else in our group," I proposed boldly.

"And how's that?" Piricus asked, still cold.

"Because I've known you the longest, and," I started with a lump catching in my throat, "I probably care the most about you. I see you as a friend, a companion, and a fellow warrior instead of just some nagging jackass that's always making my life miserable. I think I see you that way because I see past that mask you're putting off. You don't like people, plain and simple, for whatever reason. I think it's because someone injured you in the past, but that's just personal speculation. You don't like to rely on others not because you truly think they're incompetent, but because you think it makes you look weak. And heaven knows," I added with a slight grin, "The extremes you go through to make sure no one perceives you that way. I don't know why you're worried," I surmised plainly, "You are NOT weak in any form, save your people skills and those in my opinion and by personal right, are optional. If anything," I continued hesitantly after a moment's pause, "you've been holding back a good bit of your power. The magic I saw you use against the River Demons was more than angered bloodlust. It was powered by more than revenge, just like the aura you displayed when Maria murdered Darius," I concluded quietly, scrutinizing Piricus' face for any sign of emotion.

Surprisingly, there were none. Not even when I mentioned Maria or Darius, or my own personal view of him. A sliver of pain was beginning to stir up in me like an anguished, fiery pinprick, starting around my heart. I'd only briefly admitted to him that I cared. I hadn't breathed a word about being in love with him and still his face was as hard and impassive as granite. Honestly though, what had I been expecting? Had I truly believed he would just instantaneously warm up to me and throw away all reservations making us become best friends? Or worse yet, were my feelings in vain? I knew in the beginning that there was a strong chance my feelings would be unreciprocated, but did reality have to hit me so hard in this particular moment? After a few more moments of motionless silence, I tried something else.

"If I can even ask, why the restraint? There are countless times using that level of ability would have made life easier for you. Is it because of Maria?" I pondered aloud, giving the most logical reason my mind could muster.

Piricus continued to eye me keenly like a hawk on a mouse for a moment, still not uttering a syllable. Amidst the timidity of my romantic feelings, my Amazonian warrior nature began to shift through restlessly. This was irritating, frustrating, and rude. He needed to answer me, or at least say _something_. A fiery rebuttal formed in my mind as I spoke aloud.

"So, have you suddenly taken leave of your vocal cords?" I asked, slightly snappish myself, not unlike Piricus himself was famous for. "Say something. And how about that something is an explanation for this BIZARRE behavior of yours?" I suggested frankly. "Piricus, I am your friend!" I proclaimed more loudly than I had meant to. "Maybe the only one you have here, so if something is bothering you, speak up!" I suddenly demanded in one breath, seemingly to the surprise of us both. That characteristic, cold light flickered through Piricus' emerald eyes before vanishing back into their steely depths. Okay, my inner fighter had gotten a little too agitated. That was definitely more adamant than I had intended the statement to be.

"You know you can trust me," I found myself blurting lamely in a tender tone, almost as an absentminded afterthought.

His icy eyes narrowed dangerously at me and a sinister yellow-green light filled their irises. "Can I?" he stated abruptly, in a calculating, even voice.

I locked my own eyes on his, hard though it was for me in his demonic stare. "Yes. Yes you can," I assured calmly and with every bit of verity I had. "I could have betrayed you to the Viz-Jaq'Taar countless times over, but I haven't. Now, because I haven't betrayed you, I have them after me too," I reminded patiently. "I threw a javelin at the Lord of Terror to try and help you," I added gravely, "When I could have just left you to die. Which, logistically, would have been better for me personally if I shared your same, selfish thought pattern," I admitted bluntly. "If that does not win your trust, then I doubt I can," I recalled. "Seriously Piricus," I continued persistently, "What is this about? You said yourself in Lut Gholein you were past the point of worrying about me."

Piricus glared at me, but at least this time, he gave me the courtesy of a reply. "A simple test," he said vaguely.

"Well, did I pass?" I asked, impatiently. Inwardly my mind squirmed with anticipation and confusion. He still hadn't explained a damn thing, but what I had told him earlier was true. If standing up for him time and again, risking my own life to help him, and defying the assassin order weren't enough, nothing would be. A part of my heart ached miserably with this realization. If he never trusted me truly, he'd never even consider me his friend, let alone anything else.

Piricus raised an ivory eyebrow sarcastically, though his trademark smirk was starting to resurface on his face. "You're still here aren't you, _friend_," he muttered sarcastically.

"I am," I pronounced straightforwardly.

He laughed bitterly. "I'm a dangerous person to be around amazon, I've already told you," he reminded.

I snorted indignantly. "So I've noticed. But I'll maintain my choice no matter what you say. You want to get rid of me, you'll have to kill me," I retorted sarcastically myself.

Piricus rolled his eyes as he slid off the crate he'd been seated on. "Don't tempt me," he chuckled darkly as he started towards me. A yellow-green mist started to coalesce over the top of his right hand and swirl threateningly around it as he came closer.

I continued to stand my ground passively, though a small uncertainly plagued my mind. What exactly was he doing? Was he really going to threaten me, or even more than that, attack me? I inwardly composed myself; sure that he was testing me once again. Maybe he wanted to see if I was afraid. That would certainly counter my claim to trustworthiness. People often betrayed each other out of fear, and maybe that was what he was doing now, attempting to scare me and see if I reacted violently. Secondly, trust worked both ways. Maybe I was supposed to trust him now and that was the ground he was testing currently.

I consciously did the best I was able to control my facial expressions as Piricus stopped right in front of me. "What are you doing?" I asked him skeptically, though my voice as I answered was devoid of anything but curiosity.

Piricus reached out his hand for mine in a swift motion, almost like he was going to strike me, but then stopped just short. I blinked slowly as I looked down; he had his magically radiating hand open, palm up, as if waiting for something just a centimeter shy of my own.

I blinked again, catching sight of my own hands through the necromantic mist his skin was giving off. I noticed I was still holding Ahmad's necklace, clutched in a closed fist protectively. I almost dropped the necklace in surprise as Piricus' dark magic washed over my own skin. The sensation was tangible, though not harmful in any way. His necromantic magic sent tingles through every part of my hand it was misting over, but nothing more than that. Wasn't all their magic supposed to be meant for destruction or undead resurrection? This energy didn't feel like either of the two, and certainly wasn't threatening. It was definitely an odd thing for Piricus to do.

"I'm waiting," Piricus snapped impatiently, jolting me out of my intrigued thoughts.

"Right," I acknowledged somewhat awkwardly. "Sorry about that," I apologized sheepishly before relinquishing the odd necklace into his glowing hand. Once more, as the necklace left my touch, so too did the odd feeling of stewardship.

I observed intently as Piricus' strange magic washed up and down the entirety of the feathered jewelry, sending out small flashes of multicolored lights at irregular intervals. The magenta-colored feather seemed to react the most strongly against Piricus' magic; it sputtered along the inlaid veins a brilliant orange color. Small arcs of greenish energy began to race throughout the wire lattice of the necklace body, sparking like emerald lightning as the wires connected to each other. The yellowed mist of Piricus' spell traveled along the entire length of the leather cording before fading into a dim glow.

All of this meant nothing to me, so I watched Piricus' face carefully as the spell ceased and he handed the necklace back to me nonchalantly. As the necklace passed back into my hands and the energetic glow around Piricus' faded, I could distinctly see the black tattoo inscribed into his skin. The same tattoo that he oddly claimed before in Lut Gholein didn't exist. I decided to hold my question about the tattoo for in a moment. The necklace would come first.

"Well?" I asked with keen interest.

Piricus turned from me and began walking back the way we'd come without even looking at me. I followed him expectantly. After that, he'd better give me an answer.

"What were you expecting to learn about it?" Piricus responded blandly.

"Anything," I replied in earnest, "Anything at all."

"Hmm," Piricus murmured cryptically.

"Did you find something or not?" I asked candidly, feeling myself once more on the cusp of hope and disappointment.

"How often do you wear that thing, amazon?" he asked plainly.

"All the time," I answered honestly, "I really don't want anything to happen to it before I can fulfill my promise," I admitted truthfully.

"Well that would explain why it feels so much like you," he answered with a snort. "You might want to accessorize less in the future," he stated snidely.

"Why's that?" I asked, a frown forming.

"Because your energy had almost snuffed out whatever original one was present," he explained bluntly as we continued to walk down some narrowing, worn dock.

"Which would be what?" I repeated, more firmly this time.

"I have absolutely no idea," Piricus responded with a disinterested drawl as we rounded the corner and came face to face with a large, illuminated hut that was bustling with boisterous noise and movements from within.

"Then what was all that flashy energy and jazz?" I growled, slightly sour. "Surely you had to pick up on something," I begged, slightly exasperated.

"I did," Piricus insisted, still unceremoniously. "It just wasn't like anything else I've ever sensed before."

I kicked at the wooden walkway beneath my feet in frustration and watched in surprise as a decent part of the plank's edge went hurdling into the disgusting black water some ten feet away. "Damn," I snapped irritably.

"I'd be careful if I were you amazon," Piricus taunted, "These things weren't built to last and that water's pretty much all acid. A convenient place to slip and fall for someone you don't like," he added darkly at the end.

"You'd have pushed me by now," I pointed out. "And wouldn't have wasted the energy on the necklace."

Piricus grinned ironically. "True enough."

"So, where are we?" I asked, feeling the tumultuous uproar of energy and noise from within. "It sounds like the tavern," I added in distain.

"The paladin get you to take a vow of alcoholic abstinence amazon?" Piricus jeered rudely, returning completely to his normal self.

"Hardly. I just think with this water. . ." I retorted with an exaggerated grimace looking below myself. "Anyhow, thank you for your assistance Piricus," I added genuinely, looking at him with gratitude.

Piricus rolled his eyes before opening the door. "Don't make it a habit, _friend_," he answered snidely. "Killing you might not even make you vanish," he added crassly, "Seeing as the dead tend to linger, especially around me. But maybe if I got drunk enough," he suggested sarcastically, opening the reed door to reveal the obnoxious party-going scene within.

Several large men in chainmail and leather armor were scattered around the rickety, small wooden tables within, no more so than stools really, eating what appeared to be fish and other roasted game while drinking several towering mugs of foul-smelling liquor. The unpleasantly odiferous mix of stale, acidic ocean water, fungal ocean slime, potent alcohol, sweaty unwashed soldiers, blood, and crisped meat was almost enough to make me leave before I entered. This place seemed like the kind of locale Alminus would frequent and I was entirely surprised I didn't see him here.

Three or four large soldiers were grappling around in a drunken, though it seemed amicable brawl in the corner of the establishment, causing the entire structure to sway beneath the movement while five or six more looked on in crude entertainment. I eyed Piricus skeptically as we walked in.

"Is this an attempt to better your people skills?" I asked humorously, looking around myself. "Because I seriously can't see you getting drunk in such distinguished company."

Piricus hissed grouchily upon hearing my remark. "That moron mercenary's trinket is actually quite a puzzle to me. I was hoping to find my own answer in here," he replied crossly. Yep, he was completely himself again…

"How's that going to work?" I asked, puzzled.

"Chyemme? Piricus?" a familiar voice asked uncertainly from behind us.

I turned around and was face to face with Cloudyous, much to my surprise. Piricus saw him and glowered.

"Okay, party's over. I've had about all I can stand," he stated irritably as he gazed at Cloudyous. "One member of this group in my personal space is more than enough for me," he added rudely as he turned on his heel for the door.

"Wait!" I insisted, wanting desperately the information he'd been about to tell me. Piricus didn't pay me any attention as he continued to the door.

"What are you two doing here?" Cloudyous asked me curiously, watching Piricus' retreating form.

"Trying to solve a mystery," I grumbled irritably as I made my way after Piricus. A large, drunken man blocked my path.

"'Ey there missy," he slurred huskily, "A pretty lass like you shouldn't be chasin' some punk that runs from a drink!" he laughed heartily as he followed my gaze with unfocused eyes to Piricus.

"Out of my way," I insisted angrily. "I'm not here for your entertainment."

"Aww, don't be like that," he protested playfully in slow, liquor-thick speech as he reached for my arm.

"Don't touch her Dan," a sly female voice called from somewhere overhead. "That one's an amazon. Get into a tussle with her and she'll likely snap your arm," she laughed lazily.

I looked up to see the sparsely-clad woman from earlier, perched comfortably on a rafter watching everything from above like a divine spectator. She had a tall, thin bottle in her own bronzed hands and took a large swig as she continued to eye me in amusement. I knew her name, and she had been the woman I needed to see anyway.

"Are you Asheara Goldenvale?" I asked, calling up to the woman, just to make sure, ignoring the man in front of me and even Piricus for a moment.

She leaned back against a vertical timber sloppily, with a comical grin across her face. I seriously questioned in my mind if she was sober with the amount of time it took her to answer even that much.

"It usually depends on who's looking for her. But, for an amazon, hell yeah, I'll be Asheara," she replied with a robust laugh as she slinked down from the ceiling, twirling in a burlesque manner around one of the support columns down to the floor. I stared at her oddly, truly wondering if she'd consumed a little too much to be of help.

"Asheara," I started formally. "My name is Chyemme and I'm looking for someone named—" I began, however the mercenary leader seemed too preoccupied with Cloudyous next to me. "Hey now, aren't you a looker?" she laughed playfully as she grabbed a handful of Cloudyous' linen tunic and pulled him up against herself rather forcefully. Before he could react, the intoxicated woman had grabbed a handful of his orange hair and kissed him roughly before he could even react.

As distasteful as this whole scene was and as aggravating, Cloudyous' face was extremely amusing. His fair-skinned cheeks flushed with a ruby color and he became incredibly stiff after trying unsuccessfully to pry the overly-amorous woman off himself awkwardly. I could tell that Asheara was definitely a battle-hardened warrior, if not by the inebriated strength she displayed now then by the persistence in her affections. She wanted what she wanted it seemed, and would not be denied. It would probably take Cloudyous being aggressive to be able to peel her off of him, but knowing his gentle nature, he probably wouldn't be willing to risk hurting her over a drunken misunderstanding like this.

True enough, Cloudyous continued to try and pull away from her without hurting her, but it was getting him nowhere. He looked to me desperately out of the corner of his eye, begging for my help. I growled in frustration. No matter what I did, it seemed I was getting nowhere with this damned necklace, and now, Piricus had left the tavern, further ruining my evening.

I fiercely grabbed Asheara's arm at the wrist and applied significant pressure, trying to disentangle her from Cloudyous' hair. I succeeded, though my guess was more out of hitting a pressure point than causing pain.

"Hey," she growled in a displeased demeanor as I yanked her arm and consequently, her body roughly away from Cloudyous. "What's your problem, amazon?" she snorted crossly with a slight slur.

"Let me give you a tip," I assured in annoyance, "Don't force yourself on someone, it's not classy it's just trashy. And secondly," I started again, still maintaining a firm grip.

"Aww, sounds to me girl like you don't know how to have fun," Asheara laughed in a barking tone, stirring a rowdy chuckling from the men scattered throughout the area.

"Don't be too hard on 'er Asheara," the man from before laughed drunkenly. "I think we scared off her date."

"He wasn't my date," I hissed defensively at the drunken mercenary.

"That explains why you're trying to steal mine," Asheara taunted with all the logic of a drunken diva. "By the way, Dan might not be real bright, but I eat man-stealing amazon tramps for lunch," she added with a playfully intoxicated jeer.

I was suddenly aware of a knee being slammed roughly into my gut. I bent over, out of breath and released Asheara out of reflex. One hand flew to my stomach instinctively in a guard position, and the other I used to block the kick she threw with her other leg toward my face. Her bare skin crashed against the steel of my bracer brutally, but the drunken mercenary leader showed no signs of pain, or of stopping.

She swiftly lashed out at me with another kick aimed for my back, and I had to twist at the waist to block. I grabbed her striking appendage in both hands, aiming to throw her away from me, but in that moment, she used my own grip against me. Using me as a support, Asheara launched herself into the air and flailed her other foot into my shoulder as I twisted to avoid a blow to the face. Pain started to pulsate through the spot, even through the layers of my armor, fueling my own rage. This was dumb.

I had dropped the alcohol-infused Iron Wolves leader on the ground when she kicked me last and for a drunkard, she found her feet in a blink. She stumbled a bit before she lashed out in a furious punch aimed for my jaw. I made to dodge, but Asheara followed my movements surprisingly well and instead of hitting my face, she redirected and delivered a painful fist to my other shoulder, causing me to stumble backwards.

She quickly followed suit with her other hand, but this time, I twisted behind a wall column and she smashed into it instead. The dried, brittle wood splintered everywhere, leaving a sizable hole behind, and Asheara momentarily dazed. My sober mind instantly formed the strategy I needed to defeat this inebriated menace. Her whole focus was on impact. She concentrated all her strength into the actual hit. Therefore if she missed repeatedly, the momentum would likely knock her onto her own ass.

I twisted nimbly to the right as she kicked out for my thigh and then stepped backwards when she tried to kick with her other foot. She missed both times and stumbled, due to the enormous amount of energy she was putting into it. She punched again and I ducked to the side of a table, causing her to swipe air above my head then trip around the table at her feet. She spun around in a maneuver that should have been impossible for the non-sober and lashed out with her other, flat hand.

I carefully and quickly stepped beside another small table and then used it as a wedge between me and her. As Asheara struck out at me, I equally maintained the distance between us so she was unable to actually impact anything but empty air. It took a few minutes, but I could see her beginning to wear out.

After a minute of moving around the circular table, Asheara jumped on top of it, closing the distance between us. She kicked out at me violently, and I saw an opportunity to end the fight. I actually let the strike hit my upper arm, halting her movement abruptly and then twirled myself in a spinning kick that took her supporting leg out from underneath her. Asheara fell backwards onto the small table, crushing it beneath her weight into debris. I didn't waste another second. I jumped on top of her and drove my armored elbow down hard against her neck and used my other arm to put pressure against her chest and restrict her breathing ability. I used the rest of my body as a weight to restrain the rest of her, effectively pinning her to the ground.

She struggled harshly against me like a caged wolverine, but I didn't relent. "Come back to your senses!" I snarled angrily. "Or I will continue to choke you until you pass out! This is ridiculous!" I hissed vehemently. "Griez was right! You really are the biggest bitch in your pack! Attack me for no damned reason!" I continued through gritted teeth as I applied more pressure into my hold.

Asheara started to cough and then wheeze as she struggled to breathe in my hold, but the moment I spoke the name of Griez she seemed to regain some sense of recognition and began to laugh heartily in gasps through my grasp.

"Griez sent you? Why didn't you say so in the first place? The old devil dog," she continued to chuckle, though she stopped fighting and lay passively down on the ground beneath me. "So what's the old coonhound up to these days?" she managed more clearly, in a tone of voice suggesting she and I were having a casual conversation instead of just being involved in a brawl.

"I'm looking for someone," I insisted crossly. "A relative to one of his mercenaries that died,"  
I furthered, still not relenting in my restraint though she had stopped struggling completely. "Her name is—" I tried once more before we were interrupted by the emergence of yet another new person.

The tavern door flew open unceremoniously as a young woman came sauntering in like she owned the place. "Issac, our standards are getting pretty low around here," she called arrogantly to one of the guys over to the left that had been watching our brawl. "I just saw some pale, scrawny bastard leaving here in a hurry. **He** bumped into **me **and told me to watch where I was going, so I had to tell the little prick how it is. You're falling down on the job, ya slosh-faced dog, have some pride in your work. This place is becoming a cesspit" she announced to the room at large both grandly and sarcastically like her life story was world news.

The young woman caught sight of me and Asheara on the floor atop a pile of wooden ruble and she snorted incredulously. "And what the hell do you call this here? Honestly, you slack-jawed bastards call yourselves Iron Wolves? That's only your boss this half-armored blonde bitch has got pinned on the floor. I'm not taking the pay cut for this stupid folly out of my salary," she insisted bluntly. She strode over to me threateningly and I felt the cold energy of ice magic ripple down her arm before it formed into a misty blue sphere in her hand.

"End of the line, blondie," she sneered rudely, "Get off my boss before I clear you," she threatened menacingly.

"She attacked me," I snapped roughly, not caring an instant for this new woman's attitude. "I'm not going to just let her up so she'll start again," I assured icily myself.

"You will if you want to stay mobile," the woman repeated dangerously. "I'm counting to three and then we're going to use your butch ass as an ice sculpture for our dart games," she continued rudely, expanding the frosty orb in her palm.

"What is it with this region and attitude?" I snapped harshly, truly wanting an answer.

"It's the spice of life babe," Asheara giggled giddily and before I knew what was happening, she kissed me too as I turned my head.

It was absolutely disgusting, I could clearly see why Cloudyous would be embarrassed and he to my knowledge, was a man that fancied women. All I could smell and taste was staled alcohol and some type of burnt, flavored beef. The fact that this was another woman acting this way towards me also made the situation far worse. Several of the men roared in laughter, furthering my own awkward embarrassment. Cloudyous may have been a gentleman, but among girls, the gloves were coming off. I pulled back one arm to punch her in the face; drunk or not this behavior was not going to slide with me.

The young woman laughed in amusement and used the opportunity to grab my free arm and yank me off her boss. I turned to her, ready to hold her accountable but in an instant, Cloudyous had wedged his way between us.

"Calm down Chyemme, please," he pleaded as he put a hand on my shoulder. "We need them to help us, remember? We don't want to wear out our welcome in all of town either," he reminded logically, though I could tell that he too was feeling sorely out of place.

"I'm with Piricus," I grumbled sourly. "I don't like this place. All of it is a cesspit, not just your tavern," I shot back aloud with a venomous glare towards the new woman.

She was moderately tall, probably an inch less than Maria had been and had fiery, vibrantly colored auburn hair that seemed to be more purple in the lighting than brown or red. Her hair was long, like mine and hanging loosely down to her mid back in one part, while the other was tied through a pearly, iridescent decorative tube that fountained into a ponytail high on her head and out a few inches behind herself. The new woman's skin was a light burnished bronze, and her steely eyes held the consistency of burnt amber. Her outfit was surprisingly elaborate and was made up of two separate pieces. The top portion of her attire was a half a coppery breastplate; there was only metal snuggly latched around her busts and very top portion of rib cage, more like a tube-topped shirt than actual armor. The metal work was split in a decorative semi-circle around the top flesh of her breasts, giving it a more ceremonial look due to the flesh exposed. She wore no pauldrons or upper arm armor; instead her shoulders were completely bare down to the start of her biceps, where a thick and wide grey scalemail encased the rest of her arms on either side down to the wrist.

Below the top of her rib cage, the woman had no armor at all; her thin, muscled stomach was visible completely down to her waist, where the attire picked up again. She had on a thick, leather belt that was studded in places with small jewels that held a loose collection of three triangular swatches of copper-colored metal on her sides and front. Under the odd assortment of light plating on her lower half, she wore a full, floor-length battle skirt made of the same flat scalemail as her armored sleeves. She had on colorful, maroon boots that were barely visible beneath her sweeping combat skirt and carried on her back what looked like a thin, steel broadsword with a jeweled handle. I snorted half-heartedly. And she had the nerve to call me half-armored.

"Well, it isn't much, but right now, it's home," Asheara answered me, somewhere between drunk and extremely disorderly. "So anyway, amazon you were saying? A friend of Griez is a friend of mine. The old goat is extremely picky on who he chooses to trust, so ya've got my ear," she furthered.

"You're too drunk to have any idea what you're saying," I snapped harshly, "Let alone what you're doing."

"Don't be like that sweetheart," Asheara laughed brazenly. "That's what the last one of you said too, until I warmed her heart, not to mention the rest of her with a little backwoods ale."

"This is insulting! Whether you actually mean that or not means nothing!" I hissed scathingly, preparing myself for another fight. Sensing my building animosity and my failure to make nice, Cloudyous tried his hand with the pair. "Asheara, my name is Cloudyous and I'm here on the behalf of Hratli and my group to find an Iron Wolf to guide us through the jungle," he offered politely, though somewhat awkwardly.

Asheara looked him up and down with a devilish smile. "I'm sorry, your name again-?" she asked teasingly.

I had taken all I could stand. I turned to her bluntly, anger fuming within. "I'm astounded that you are in charge of taking care of this place when you're drunk off your ass like you are," I growled. "He's here, and I'm here, to find a goddess-be-damned mercenary to lead us through the jungle! Hratli won't let us leave on our own; we need one of your sorry lot to tag along with us!" I hissed loudly, annunciating each word crossly.

Asheara smiled as she took in my irate tone. "Oh, is that all? I thought you said something about finding somebody?" she recalled vaguely, looking to the ceiling as if it were a clue.

I sighed heavily, trying to calm myself down. "YES!" I barked loudly. "Yes I am! Her name is Xialah, do you have the faintest idea who that is?" I snapped irately.

"That would be me blondie," the new woman announced plainly from behind me as I turned to face her incredulously. "What the hell kind of problem do you have with me for you to bring your skank self and pathetic companion," she insulted simply gesturing to Cloudyous, " into the Iron Wolves' tavern, getting into a fist fight with my boss? You've got a lot of nerve there, silky," she added with an obnoxious spite.

I stood there stunned for a moment, completely and utterly discouraged and angered. This loud-mouthed, obnoxious brat was Amhad's cousin? I completely despised her from being around her for less than five minutes and now I was supposed to tell her that her cousin was dead and give her sympathy? Nope. That wasn't going to happen. Not after the day I'd already had.

"Recognize this?" I grumbled bitterly as I pulled her cousin's necklace out from underneath my armor and held it out for everyone to see.

Xialah glanced me up and down skeptically, then raised an eyebrow, not unlike Piricus would have done. "Uh, not really," she said flatly. "Should I?" she added snidely.

My entire frame bristled with outrage, and I couldn't contain my frustration any more. "Uh, try YES YOU SHOULD!" I shouted loudly. "It came from your cousin Ahmad—sound familiar? Who oddly enough—"I began nastily.

Cloudyous stepped in front of me, taking the necklace from my hand roughly and silencing me. "Chyemme!" He reprimanded harshly, almost making me feel guilty for my aggravated behavior. Almost.

Cloudyous was much gentler in his approach and much more polite. "My lady," he began respectfully, "This necklace came from a man claiming to be your cousin. His name was Ahmad, he was a mercenary under Griez in the desert city Lut Gholein," he rephrased.

Xialah eyed him apathetically. "Oh," she shrugged plainly. "Yes. Him. I remember now," she added casually. "What is it you have to say, muskrat-weaver?" she furthered in an insulting manner, eyeing Cloudyous' animal hides. "I'm kind of busy and you're bothering me."

Even Cloudyous looked taken aback by this response and he faltered for a moment before finishing. "My lady, Ahmad died in the protection of Lut Gholein. He was a friend of ours and it was his last wish that we find you and give this necklace back to you. He said it was of the utmost importance to him and would give him a peaceful eternal rest," Cloudyous informed both respectfully and with compassion.

I expected tears. I expected anguish. I expected anger even. What she responded with pissed me off to no tomorrow. The woman, Xialah looked at Cloudyous with blatant uncaring.

"Well, I guess if he died in action he is resting," she said with the same amount of grief a rock possessed. "In pieces. I'll bet you're a sorry sap, aren't you?" she said with a nonchalant shrug towards a stunned Cloudyous. "You came all the way out here to give me some worthless trinket and ruin our party. You're lucky I don't skin you like that muskrat around your neck," she added with malcontent to the pair of us.

"You don't care?" I snarled nastily. "This man loved you and I went through all of this so you can just, NOT CARE?" I roared furiously, shaking the walls of the hut around me.

Xialah snorted briskly. "Wow, you really are butch aren't you? Got a set of lungs that could rival a lion there, blondie. I hate to tell you this, but that's not really attractive," she jeered rudely. "Well, I guess it wasn't a total waste for you," she added, snatching the amulet out of Cloudyous' shocked hands. "We can always use stuff for the fire," she declared before unceremoniously throwing the enigmatic necklace that had meant the world to someone into the blaze in the back without a second thought. "Dry wood is hard to come by," she explained to us with a shrug.

"How dare you…" I spat like an enraged bear. All this time and all this distance for her to just throw away Ahmad's greatest treasure like garbage. The fire that Xialah had just thrown her cousin's necklace into roared to life, much like my present ire, and in a matter of seconds, the strange jewelry was gone, turned into ash and nothing more.

"I have a solution for you," Asheara announced to Cloudyous and I as though nothing strange had happened. "There's an opening on the roster for tomorrow. You can take one of my mercs with you into the jungle. Of course, it won't be cheap," she added. "Looks can't buy you everything," Asheara assured with a wink.

"But we're on city business!" I raged in disbelief.

"My mercs won't fight for free," Asheara added seriously.

"We'll take whoever you can spare, Asheara," Cloudyous assured. "We have the money Chyemme, don't worry," Cloudyous said quietly as he leaned over to me, still not taking his strange gaze from Xialah. "And who knows, maybe they will be more willing to work with us when we've found them a new power source," he added hopefully. "Either way, we need to get moving," he reminded.

I grunted, still in a very bitter disposition as Asheara clapped her hands together grandly. "Perfect. Xialah here is my finest, and she's available. You can take her with you tomorrow."

I coughed nastily. "Excuse me? Hell no. Not just no, but HELL NO! I would rather take a demon into the—" I cursed sourly.

Cloudyous elbowed me sharply in the ribs, and I almost hit him back. After all I had done for him this evening, this was how he chose to act? "That will be fine. Be ready to leave tomorrow at first light Xialah and I'm sorry for your loss," Cloudyous added once more to Xialah, whom waved goodbye us rudely as we walked by, treating us not like paying costumers but irritating, unwelcomed guests.

"Night blondie, I'd try to sleep off that roaring bronchitis if I were you," Xialah called out after me, "And make sure to polish your muskrat, beaver-tail," she added snidely to Cloudyous as the two of us reached the door to the tavern with Cloudyous more dragging me out that I was walking on my own.

The night air was stale, and how appropriate, bitter too. The nastiness of the atmosphere was accompanied by a dark laugh from beside us as we made our exit.

Piricus stood by one of the tavern's windows and snickered when we walked out, apparently he must have been watching the whole thing unfold. "Forget the mutts druid, or even nature at all. That one is a real Iron Maiden."


	6. Chapter 6

AN: Thanks again for reading and reviewing and I apologize for the extremely long delays. My life has been extremely hectic these last few months, I lost power and water at my house for a while due to Hurricane Irene and my school schedule got ardently skewed by the Virginia earthquake seeing as how I live in the vicinity of the epicenter. Shortly put, I have like two academic papers and two tests every week, which demand a high amount of attention. I would also like to add I've been working hard on an entry for a writing contest and just submitted it. Everyone please keep their fingers crossed and wish me luck.

For my anonymous reviewer (you know who you are): please know that I haven't given up and that I never will. I just get extremely busy from time to time. Thank you for such heartfelt support and I apologize once again for the delays.

Disclaimer: I do not own Diablo or Diablo 2. All copyrights are still in effect and property of Blizzard Entertainment. I'm just messing around in their world for fun.

A Man Called Khalim

Piricus

The amazon was practically bristling with outrage, not to say I could blame her. When I'd left that accursed drunk house, curiosity had incited enough of my interest for me to hang around discreetly. What an irritating display of drunken foolery; more and more the Metal Mage's words about sanity resounded in my mind. What moron would feel secure enough to get so wasted in this wasteland? Especially with a Viz-Jaq'Taar taking up residence within this ruined hovel they still had enough vain hope to call a town. And now, to top off my frustrations, we had managed to become entangled with yet another Trag 'Oul forsaken mercenary that had an attitude, much to my displeasure, that was more prominent than any of them before her.

"You got that right," the amazon growled at me crossly as she subconsciously tucked stray tufts of her blonde hair back into place. The subdued anger was still flashing behind her eyes like cerulean lightning, even as she spoke. I'd seen the entirely idiotic bar brawl she'd been involved in moments ago, and to be frank, I could completely understand her aggravations. It was a sentiment that even the druid seemed to be sharing to a minor degree, which surprised me.

"She certainly had some spunk, I'll say that," the druid concurred with a frown.

"Must be animal magnetism," I commented snidely, recalling the druid's role in the recent situation. "Beasts are attracted to each other and she actually knew the correct type of ground-dwelling vermin you're wearing around like a necklace."

"It was probably just a lucky guess," the amazon grumbled irritably as she removed a strand of long, black hair out of the clasps of her left pauldron.

"It's hardly classy to compare a lady with an animal," the druid replied simply, "but in this case I'd have to say you're right. I know insects that mourn their losses more than she did," he admitted.

"Wolves would act more civilized," the amazon continued with a sour scowl. "Comparing her to an animal is an insult to Belthem," she furthered as the druid's grey mutt rejoined him from around the corner.

The druid greeted it amicably and gave its speckled fur a reassuring ruffle. "Speaking of animals, that was an intriguing necklace. I haven't seen feathers like those in a long time," the druid finished, absently switching topics.

The amazon looked over to him expectantly; apparently she'd been intent on asking him about it before the trinket's abrupt destruction.

"You know what bird they belonged to then?" she asked him interestedly, momentarily forgetting her foul disposition.

"As a matter of fact I do," the druid affirmed with a nod. "It's hard to mistake them for the colors," he informed with confidence.

"Well that reveals loads right there, druid. Say something useful about it while you're in my presence or don't speak. We've heard enough useless babble tonight to fill a month's quota," I demanded plainly, too tired to hear anyone ramble on about nothing.

"I'm getting there," the druid promised calmly. "Anyway Chyemme, those feathers were undeniably from the breast of an Urehnian Thunderbird. It's a very rare hawk only found here in the Eastern Jungles. They're actually extremely localized; they've never been observed more than a thousand miles away from Ureh, the mage city. Hence the name," he explained.

"I see. You said that they're rare," the amazon reiterated in consideration, "How rare are we talking about? I also wanted to ask if these birds have any type of magic qualities to them," she continued curiously.

The druid stroked his flame-colored goatee as he thought. "Well, yes they do. For some reason the Urehnian Thunderbirds possess a magical energy that insulates them from electrical currents. It's an extremely potent ability; there is an account of one taking a direct lightning strike during a storm and being completely unharmed. No one knows the mechanics of why that is," the druid started as the three of us began walking away from the tavern, "because no one in my order has had an opportunity to study them up close for any period of time. This is due partly to their elusive nature, but mainly because they're so scarce. To answer that question Chyemme, they are extremely rare. Druidic lore has only recorded a maximum population of three of them alive at one time, and that was over two hundred cycles ago. However, according to the Scéal Fada, which is our oldest and most sacred tome of knowledge, it is suggested that there is usually only one of them alive at any given time," the druid finished in a speculative tone of voice.

"So, you're saying there's probably only one of them alive right now?" the amazon reiterated in surprise, shooting me a questioning glance. I knew the association she was making, having just made it myself. Whatever energy contained within that mercenary bitch's necklace had definitely been tied to something alive. Moreover, it was meshed into her own somehow. What I had neglected to tell the amazon when she let me examine that odd adornment was that I could feel the base source of the energy nearby. I was following the energy trail my arcane had revealed to me and that's how we ended up at the tavern in the first place. I didn't lie to the amazon when I told her that necklace contained an energy I'd never felt before. It truly piqued my interest due to its unique energy patterns, owing mainly to the fact that the living forces within the necklace were connected to that mercenary she-wolf but were also connected somehow to the plasma patterns of some type of animal. Presumably a bird from the druid's ramblings. What exactly was happening within this bizarre combination of energy patterns?

To the nether with it. I already had enough to concern myself with and they happened to be matters of actual importance. An animal enigma wasn't going to make my list of priorities, so I decided to just cast the matter aside entirely.

The druid shrugged in response to the amazon's inquiry. "As far as I know. Why? What's troubling you about that amulet? It's unlike you to stress over an object," the druid observed deductively.

"Well," she began with a shrug of her own which turned into a sagging of her shoulders halfway through the motion, "When Ahmad gave me charge over it before he died I could tell it was magical. It made me a little leery for a while because I was supposed to hang onto it until it could be returned and I had no idea what type of enchantments were on it to begin with. Could have been a curse for all I knew, so I asked Elder Cain about it. The Elder wasn't able to discern too much from it; he was only able to tell me that the necklace had a connection with a living energy and it was resistant to lightning magic. I also had some very strange encounters with Ahmad shortly before he died, which made me even more curious about what all of these things add up to. Elder Cain advised me to speak with you and Piricus for more potential information. I showed the amulet to Piricus earlier," she relayed with an expectant glance to me.

"And what did you find out?" the druid asked, looking at me curiously.

"That it's alive," I responded bluntly, "and therefore the amazon isn't completely insane," I added snidely.

"Well that makes one of us," the amazon shot back half-heartedly. Her retort had no actual substance; I could clearly tell that she was pondering over the druid's information.

The druid grinned at the amazon's midway comeback before his countenance returned to serious. "Hmm. Well, I'm sorry I can't be more help. What I've already told you is about the extent of my knowledge on the matter," he replied to the amazon apologetically.

"What does this even matter now amazon? That immensely grateful mercenary tossed her family heirloom into the fire along with any semblance of respect for you she already didn't have," I reminded sarcastically, truly wondering why the amazon was so enamored with the mystery of that amulet even when it'd been destroyed and no longer pertained to her in any way.

"You'd know all about that, wouldn't you jackass? Seeing as respect is a strong suit of yours," the sorceress remarked snidely from where she was walking down the boardwalk towards us.

"Vendra," the amazon greeted cordially. "How's your arm?" she asked with a nod towards the female mage's appendage. "How's Sovellis doing?" she added politely.

The sorceress flexed her rejuvenated extremity at the elbow, swinging it out in front of herself to showcase the movement in reply.

"It's much better for both of us. Alminus is fine too. Ormus is an incredible healer and by the way Chyemme, he wants to see you," she added simply.

The amazon tilted her head curiously. "Did he say why?" she asked, slightly confused.

"No. He said it was for your ears alone," the female mage answered with a shrug.

"Is he available now?" the amazon asked directly. Some sort of recognition was lighting onto her face.

"You might be able to catch up to him in the main square if you hurry, but it'd probably be for the best if you just see him tomorrow," the sorceress advised sincerely. "Judging from the absolutely ludicrous welcome we all received earlier from the charming villagers, I think you probably shouldn't wander around alone after dark. We all know the trouble you get into," she continued with a comical, yet serious expression on her face.

"Don't look so smug, sorceress," I reminded snidely, "You and the amazon have an irritating habit of disappearing together. That usually entails a serious detour from whatever task is at hand to save your sorry asses and I'm done playing hero," I admitted bluntly.

"How ever will I survive?" the sorceress countered sarcastically. "Anyway, Chyemme we've prepared a mat for you in the hut we were given. It's third to the left past the alchemists'," she informed simply. "It's discreet, but the alchemist's place is pretty distinct," she added casually.

"A perfect place for an assassination," I found myself laughing coldly. "In the back of this sorry pile of rubble, away from prying eyes. It's a location that a Viz-Jaq'Taar assigned you herself. Use your brain for once amazon, I know it must be in there somewhere. That assassin undoubtedly has another key to that room and the perfect alibi for your murder," I pointed out in a disinterested drawl.

"And what would that be, jackass? Chyemme isn't an asshole like you. She actually has friends that will protect her," the sorceress shot back rudely.

"The little girl really has it in for the amazon there," I added plainly. "Or has your perpetual lack of observation kept you from determining that simple fact? I won't even bother telling you to think sorceress because I know you can't. I'm in a slightly generous mood, so I'll spell it out for you in small terms so you can be sure to understand. The rogue is most likely sharing your room, is she not?" I asked rhetorically, rolling my eyes. "So the rogue "kills" the amazon while she's asleep, and since she's one of the only three people that "supposedly" had a key to the room and she had a prior motive, nobody questions it. Getting away with murder is as easy as observation. They play people against each other and remain in the shadows, sorceress. It's what they do," I yawned, tired and bored.

"Chyemme are you really going to listen to his paranoid bullshit?" the sorceress asked the amazon skeptically as she raised an eyebrow.

I expected the amazon to dismiss my conjectures entirely and leave with the sorceress, however she didn't. She looked seriously contemplative and then unsure. I smirked in a halfhearted amusement. I guess what I said had shaken her up a bit, though in all honesty my speculations on the current situation probably weren't that far off from the truth. I know those assassin bastards. I know how they act and how they think almost as well as one of their own and that's one of the primary reasons I'm still alive today.

"Cloudyous, did Bibo or any of your other companions find anything on that rooftop?" the amazon directed at the druid, obviously recalling the recent attempt on her life.

The flame-haired man shook his head in reply. "Unfortunately no, they didn't. Gaia couldn't sniff anything outside of the obvious river demon stink. Sky and Belthem tried to track individual human scents since they are more practiced at it, but they couldn't detect anything either. Anything that might have been distinct was washed away by the ubiquitous water energy," he explained.

"Did they find any trace of anything at all?" the amazon continued impatiently.

"Bibo did say that she saw several metallic weapons up there on the roof, but there was no distinguishable trace of a corpse," the druid clarified, causing the amazon to sigh tensely. "No one is discrediting you, Chyemme. I firmly believe that someone did attack you; I just can't provide any more information as to who it was. Though, I highly doubt that this person is still alive judging by the explosion I heard. It is possible that you decimated their body entirely to ash and that's why we couldn't find any evidence of it. We were out at sea with violent weather, and I also doubt that this person could swim through demon infested, turbulent water in such a critical condition," the druid reasoned.

"Vendra," the amazon began hesitantly, "I don't mean you any disrespect, but I think in this case I am going to look for another place to lodge," she admitted plainly.

The sorceress eyed her oddly. "Really? You're going to let jackass convince you to stay alone somewhere nobody can help you if something does happen?" she scoffed in disbelief. "Laurella's being a brat right now for sure, but I don't think there's any way under heaven that she'd actually try to kill you. She does have some honor," the sorceress added with a snort.

"We don't have any idea where the person that attacked me is," the amazon rebutted stubbornly. "Though it's unlikely, there's a chance they might still be alive and until we know for certain if this person was really an assassin, I'd rather not take unnecessary chances. Especially when there's a possibility that you and Laurella may get hurt in the process if I'm rooming with you and I am attacked again," she offered with a strong undertone of honor in her voice.

"Don't discount them completely amazon," I reminded slyly, "They could come in handy as meat-shields," I laughed darkly. "Ask the paladin, honor will see you dead for sure," I added casually.

The sorceress shot me an angered glare, but I could also see the confusion in her face. So, the man wasn't a total fool after all. He'd kept his condition completely secret from the rest even now that this band of fools was starting to see combat again. It was a good thing to prolong his life, which was both a bit of a disappointment and relish to me. On one hand, I was hoping that something or someone would learn of his weakened state and pick him off in a horrible manner, but there was also another part of me, the more vengeful part, that desired for someone to cure the moron so when our rematch occurred, he'd be a challenge worthy of me. What fun or gain I would I get to pick off a sickly rat? Such a thing would hardly be worth any type of prestige or fulfillment. I recalled for the briefest of instants the fight with the undead Blood Raven in the Rogue Cemetery. I meant what I said. If anyone would end this imbecile's peachy-preachy life it would be me. I considered to myself a moment, and actually pondered on the paladin's condition. How would one combat such an enchantment in his innards?

The thought occurred and I forced it away sharply, mentally rebuking myself in a harsh manner. What in the name of Trag 'Oul was that just now? Had I actually been contemplating a way to help the idiot? For what reason? Foolish entertainment? I had much more on my task list to accomplish right now than to fix some loft-brained opponent of mine simply so I could cut him down later. I shook my head in vehement distaste. I needed to watch myself. Maybe it wasn't just the feeble-minded that were rotting in this place. Despite these witless arcanists' better attempt at a shield, the only thing that energy-wasting wall was actually doing was keeping the demons physically at bay. The evil aura that permeated the barrier was almost concrete enough to reach out and grab. Not surprisingly, it also carried far more latent energy than anything I'd yet to come across on this forsaken trip. It wasn't a minor demon that had crafted this unseen contamination; something substantial had conjured it and was still actively projecting it.

I thought of the Lord of Terror, for this might very well be his doing judging by the similar experience I received in Tristram, but simple logic ruled this out. It couldn't be him. The demon couldn't have been in this region for more than a week and even for that thing, it wasn't enough time to reduce once-grand Kurast that spanned fifty or more miles to a square tile on the docks. Something else did this that had been here much longer. I could only think of one entity powerful enough to achieve it: Mephisto, Lord of Hatred. My lip curled at the thought.

"Well aren't you just full of pleasantries tonight jackass?" the sorceress added snidely, watching my face.

"I can't say I blame him," the amazon added bluntly. "Goddess knows the headache I still have from that mercenary…." She hissed, but then stopped herself and inhaled a deep, centering breath.

"So you were able to find someone to guide us, then?" the sorceress reiterated with an odd expression.

"You'll love her, hot-head," I remarked casually. "It seems we've traded one obnoxious, overconfident bitch for another. I'm sure you'll be fast friends," I continued sarcastically.

"Another assassin?" the sorceress asked dubiously, though with a deep-set frown at the mention.

"Worse," the amazon growled bitterly.

The sorceress scoffed. "What's gotten into you?" she asked curiously. "You've been extremely dark and brooding lately. I think you've been spending way too much time around jackass," she exclaimed with a snort.

The amazon shook her head in irritation. "Well, circumstances being what they are…." She trailed off moodily. "Don't worry about me, Vendra. I'll find somewhere else to stay and I'll meet the rest of you in the morning," the amazon assured strongly.

The sorceress looked highly skeptical. "And where is that going to be? If you haven't noticed, space is kind of limited," she pointed out truthfully.

"It's not your problem," the amazon answered frankly. "Don't worry about it," she emphasized sincerely.

"It doesn't sit well with me," the sorceress admitted seriously. "I don't like it," she repeated sternly seeing the obstinate look on the amazon's face.

"Me either, given everything that's happened," the druid agreed. "I don't doubt that you can take care of yourself Chyemme, but I think it would make your friends feel better if someone went with you," he continued contemplatively.

"She doesn't need a babysitter druid. On the contrary, I think she's proven herself more capable than the rest of you as of late," I stated bluntly.

"I wasn't implying that she did," the flame-haired man countered. "It's just the way of any good person to look out for one of their own. It's even truer when dealing with things of nature," he suggested, eyeing his grey mutt. "I think it would be an invasion of your privacy for one of us to accompany you, but would you consider taking Belthem with you just in case? He has a direct link to Sky, should something happen, and she will be with me," he offered considerately.

"And what makes you think that the paranoid people here won't pelt your mutt like the beaver you're wearing?" I snickered rudely, stating the observation on my mind. The people here were so unstable they probably wouldn't think twice about hacking into a tree branch swaying in the breeze. Anything that was unusual definitely wouldn't be finding any favor with the locals, not that the druid's damn dog meant anything to me in the slightest.

"Because I will beat the tar out of anyone that tries," the amazon asserted fiercely. "I've taken about all the idiocy I can stand for a while," she admitted sourly. "Thank you for the gesture Cloudyous. If Belthem agrees and it will give everyone else peace of mind, I will accept his company for the night," she conceded.

"He's ready whenever you are," the druid assured after a brief moment of unheard communication with his animal.

"I'm ready now. If I don't rest soon, no one wants to deal with me," the amazon warned grouchily.

"I don't blame you, we could all do with some rest," the druid affirmed agreeably.

"I doubt you'll find it here," I remarked snidely. "We're surrounded on all sides by corruption and that _always_ makes for a soft pillow," I chuckled darkly, meaning every word.

"Anything else I need to know before I leave?" the amazon asked wearily. Her fatigue was beginning to become visible, especially in the bags drooping under her eyes.

The sorceress shrugged. "Nothing really important. Apparently Ryelass took that jade figurine to Elder Cain a little while ago. The Elder didn't know much about it, but said that Meshif might because he collects them. I think he took it over to the docks to let him look at it," she informed casually.

"Joy," the amazon replied dryly. "We'll see whatever trouble that turns up tomorrow," she muttered sarcastically.

"Let's look on the brighter side," the druid offered optimistically. "Let's hope it's none."

"Amen," the sorceress snorted in agreement. "See you in the morning," the female mage dismissed as she left with the druid.

The man's grey mutt lingered by the amazon's side calmly as he left, though the animal did remain relatively alert. Perhaps in its primitive mind, it too could feel the ominous blackness all around this place. Maybe the mutt was smarter than I gave it credit for, or perhaps it was just instinct and there was nothing to be praised in that.

The amazon and I continued to stare at each other for a moment afterwards; it was as if she was debating something heavily in her head.

"Spit it out amazon," I demanded snappishly. I hated that ponderous expression she got every so often. It usually entailed something of great irritation for me.

"Would you like to come with me?" she asked after a moment's hesitation.

I blinked. "Excuse me? Are you implying I would consciously choose to share my sleeping quarters with someone else?" I replied flatly.

"Conscious choice is a human attribute, so yes," she shot back somewhat hotly.

"And why would you knowingly do such a thing, amazon?" I asked, intrigued. "Are you afraid? Is the druid's mutt not any sort of comfort to you?" I continued sarcastically. "And better yet, what sort of benefit would such a thing provide me? It helps to have two targets in two separate places. You know, it increases your survival odds," I added with a bland sneer.

"Well, fear is hardly an incentive. If I was afraid, I'd be hiding like a coward behind Laurella and Vendra," she stated testily. "I was merely thinking about convenience for the two of us, since likely there isn't much spare room anywhere and knowing our previous encounters, we tend to end up in the same places anyway," she reminded sarcastically. "That," she declared boldly, "And if you'd like I'll share my vision about Mephisto with you," she offered. "Don't even pretend you're not interested," she shot at me before I could even begin to lie, "The look on your face when I told you on the boat did everything but scream your attention," she announced earnestly. "Even _your_ expressions give you away sometimes," she finished simply.

I crossed my arms over my chest and glared at her for a moment. Well, I guess she had caught me honestly in that last bit. I'd failed to feign my interest in the matter, probably due to surprise. She also seemed to make a rather irritating, but undeniable conclusion. We did seem to be inexplicably drawn to the same places and it was a fact made even more probable by the lack of unoccupied and inhabitable space here. For a moment, I thought back to the unwitting tie I had created between the amazon and myself when I cursed her. That foul street-conjurer said that she removed the link, but I was actually beginning to become highly dubious of her word. It seemed like more than ever, the two of us were becoming aligned to one another's energy. It was fast approaching the point where I was actually accustomed to having the amazon around and I wasn't greatly perturbed by her presence. This was in great contrast to the others, whom frustrated and infuriated me to no end. One possible theory I had for this was simple. If the witch hadn't removed the connection, I could easily be honing in on my own energy within the amazon and that familiar energy was the cause of my complacency around her. The effect also worked in reverse, drawing the amazon to me as well. This was the theory I preferred above my other two, which I would absolutely not acknowledge in any fashion. Giving those thoughts attention was highly dangerous for everyone.

"So what's it going to be?" she asked me keenly. "Yes or no?"

My eyes narrowed. "I guess you have a point. We do end up in the same cubic foot of space more often than not," I admitted with a reluctant grumble. "Are you still bringing the mutt?" I asked sourly, eyeing the druid's minion. "I will not suffer my space to smell like dog," I insisted with plain distaste. The druid's mutt actually emitted a low growl as I stared at it icily.

"I highly doubt he'll come inside wherever we end up," the amazon speculated. "He rarely stays anywhere indoors. He's a wolf not a dog, he doesn't sleep on a velvet cushion," she reminded flatly in the mutt's defense.

"That's because the druid's like an animal himself," I responded snidely. "He rarely sleeps anywhere indoors either and that mutt goes everywhere he does."

The amazon allowed a comical grin to creep onto her face for a brief moment. "What's wrong, Piricus? I should think you'd like Belthem better than Cloudyous any day," she chuckled.

"Why's that amazon?" I growled, not amused.

"Because he doesn't talk," she snorted humorously. "At least," she added thoughtfully, "not in a language we can understand."

"And that will be the only reason I allow the filthy fur-ball anywhere near me," I confessed unabashed.

The stupid animal growled menacingly the moment the words left my lips and actually let out a threatening bark as it displayed its teeth. The hackles on the mutt's neck started to stand on end and for a moment I wondered if it too had gone insane. If the damned beast could actually understand my human words it should have had this reaction to my insults long before now.

The amazon looked down at the beast in surprise as it continued to display aggressive mannerisms. "Belthem, ignore him," she commanded sternly.

The mutt abruptly ceased its agitated behaviors upon hearing the sound of her voice, but it continued to eye me tensely. Its ears twitched about the same time mine did and it didn't take me long after that to register the scampering sounds behind us. It sounded like a nest of rats had been disturbed. There was a high-pitched squeaking noise accompanied by the sounds of hurried movement.

"What's that?" the amazon asked alertly, quickly craning around me to get a better look in that direction.

"I have no idea," I admitted simply. "Sounds like rats to me. However," I growled dangerously, drawing my dagger from my belt, "that's usually all you here when they attack. Some small, obscure noise," I continued quietly.

"Let me check first," the amazon offered sincerely as she reached for the crystal sword at her waist and white-toned stars started to shimmer into the air around her.

"Don't," I demanded immediately, still not turning around. "You'll give us away and they'll probably run like scared mice. We won't get anywhere that way," I hissed coldly, preparing the spell on the fingertips of my free hand. If anyone was following us or spying, it was going to be the last thing that sorry bastard ever did. The green glow was solidly encircling my entire hand as I turned around and prepared to launch my curse.

The druid's mutt whined loudly as a shadowy mass blurred by in the darkness ahead. I heard the amazon inhale sharply and she suddenly grabbed my arm above the elbow, making my curse fly about five feet off target. The necromantic energy shattered a decrepit barrel into splinters before proceeding to eat a solid hole through the wooden walkway beneath it. The potent energy collided with the acid water below and exploded harshly in a noxious array of fumes.

I heard a frightened squeal as the black figure fell to its knees and balled up protectively on the boardwalk. The figure started to cough profusely as the befouled air passed to its lungs and then started shivering in terror. I scowled when I realized what was going on.

The amazon released her vice-like grip on my upper arm and nodded to me reassuringly as she made her way to the young girl. She helped the girl up and then lead her by the arm out of the unhealthy vapors into a spot we could better see her. I was surprised when I recognized the brat. It was the same one from earlier that had given me a spiel about human rights, and the same girl that had flung herself in front of the paladin to save his life.

"What are you doing spying on us you little pest?" I growled crossly. "I hope you have a very good reason for wasting my mana! Start talking!" I snapped fiercely. Truth be told, even though this eavesdropper was little more than a child, she could very possibly still be working for my enemies. I already knew this little dock-lurker had an affiliation with the paladins and size, or age for that matter, is not an appropriate measure of talent or menace.

"I wasn't*cough* spying on *cough* you," she sputtered, still choking on the poisonous essences she'd inhaled.

The amazon gave the girl a stout pat on the back, which cleared her throat but also almost knocked her small frame over. I noticed that the amazon hadn't relinquished the girl completely yet, she still maintained a firm grip on her upper arm. It was a wise move. If this little irritation decided to attack, the amazon was in a position of advantage. She'd stopped me from killing the girl, but I could tell that she also wanted a prompt and satisfactory explanation for her clandestine behavior.

"Can you breathe now?" the amazon asked, though her voice was not forwardly harsh.

The girl inhaled a crisp breath of clean air and then exhaled without coughing. "Yes," she affirmed in an unwavering voice. "And I wasn't spying on you," she promised starkly. "I was on my way to see my friends at the tavern," she added swiftly.

"And what would a child be doing at a tavern?" the amazon asked disapprovingly. "There's nothing but a bunch of rough bastards in there," she insisted sourly.

"I'm fourteen," the girl reminded crisply. "I have friends there," she asserted strongly. "In case you haven't noticed, they may be drunk occasionally, but at least they're not insane," she retorted.

"I'm not so sure there's a difference," the amazon grumbled bitterly.

"Didn't your precious paladins teach you not to lie little girl?" I snapped. "You may have been on your way there, but you stopped to watch us in the shadows. Not smart, street-shrimp, considering I almost blasted you completely through the cycle of reincarnation," I assured coldly.

Contrary to what I was expecting, the girl confessed to my accusations. "Yes, it's true that I stopped to watch you," she admitted.

"Why?" the amazon demanded strongly, still not releasing her hold.

"Because I wanted to see if Scorpious was with you," she continued. Her voice flickered emotionally when she said the paladin's name and for some reason I knew she was telling the truth.

"But why didn't you continue on your way when you saw he wasn't?" the amazon pressed intently.

"I also heard you guys saying something about needing a place to stay because somebody might be trying to attack you. I was thinking about letting you stay with me," she furthered, starting to squirm uncomfortably in the amazon's grasp.

"None of that explains why you continued to hide like a sneaky cockroach," I pointed out dangerously.

"This is embarrassing," the girl admitted sheepishly. "I didn't want to say anything until I'd made up my mind. You know, people usually get kind of angry when they find out you've overheard their entire conversation. I was about to let you know I was here, and then the biggest spider I've ever seen scurried across the top of my foot. It was big and furry and gross! I hate spiders. To be honest, I'm terrified of them. So I kind of ran away without thinking and that's when you guys found me. Not only that," she added truthfully, "but I thought I heard a bunch of rats nearby and I don't like them much either."

The amazon and I shared a knowing glance between us as the girl finished her statement. It was highly unlikely that the girl was the source of the suspicious noise. That meant something else was. Seemingly appeased by the girl's answer, the amazon let go of her.

"I'm sorry about being so harsh," the amazon apologized, "it's just—"

"I understand," the girl assured. "You thought I was someone trying to attack you. That's entirely reasonable given what happened earlier. I know this may be odd timing, but before this whole situation, I decided to let you two stay with me if you want," she offered meekly.

"And why in the name of Trag 'Oul would we do that?" I asked with an incredulous snort.

"Well," the girl began slowly, "If you need a place to hide from people for the night, my house is the perfect place. It's out of the way and only three people know where it is. I don't even think Natalya has been able to find it yet. She's always asking me if I need a place to stay because she never sees me anywhere at night. I think she worries about me," the girl replied quietly.

"Assassins worry about no one but themselves," I insisted bluntly. "I wouldn't go around entrusting them with the welfare of others," I snickered morbidly. How like a paladin this shrimp was. Honest, naïve, and foolishly idealistic.

"Well, it wouldn't hurt for us to at least look at where you stay," the amazon admitted after a moment of consideration. "If we don't think it's safe we can always say no," she reasoned. "What do you think, Piricus?" she asked seriously.

I sighed deeply and felt the intense frown on my lips. This evening just kept getting more and more crowded as it went on. Worse still, this brat was a paladin-sympathizer and to me that almost made her just as bad as the real thing. But on a more practical note, if the girl idolized paladins like I thought she did, then she would most likely uphold their ridiculous code of chivalry. It was a stupid move to allow hunted strangers into your home, and that was a fact the child had clearly heard for herself. Inviting us in would most likely bring trouble, yet true to paladin crockery she charitably offered us her home nonetheless. Besides, last time I checked, the paladins seemed to fly underneath the Viz-Jaq'Taar's suspicion radar. The assassins would not likely look for us there even if they knew where this shrimp lived. I guess in this case it would be a strategic move to accept.

"Fine," I admitted flatly. "Let's just get this over with," I insisted icily.

"I don't believe I caught your name before," the amazon asked the girl politely.

"It's Jenny," the black-haired girl introduced simply. "You'll be safe at my house I promise," she assured confidently. "It's actually not far from here," she informed.

"Thank you, Jenny," the amazon replied in gratitude.

"He's not going to bite me is he?" the girl asked as she eyed the druid's mutt cautiously. "I heard your friend say he was going to stay with you in case something happens," she repeated.

"He won't hurt you," the amazon reassured with a glance at the grey mutt. "If he thought you were a threat to us, he would have attacked you already," she concluded reasonably.

"You're probably right," the girl acknowledged. "Follow me," she instructed as she started walking back down the path towards the tavern.

"Please tell me you don't live there," the amazon grumbled in distaste as she eyed the tavern.

"Not quite," the girl explained as we skirted the edge of the building, walking along a very narrow plank off the right side.

The backside of the enormous tavern was actually built into the foundations of solid rock, and surprisingly held room enough for the three of us to walk side by side without mishap. Not surprising was the fact the space ended in a dead drop-off into the bubbling black acid-water below four feet away. The girl walked to the very edge, and knelt down over a patch of ground covered in red algae. She uttered some inaudible word that I immediately noticed held mystical sway. The second the girl breathed the word, the slimy and odiferous algae swirled together and then hardened into a glowing square beneath her feet. The magical glow solidified into a wooden door as it faded away, which she then grabbed by the latch and opened.

I could smell the distinct odor of alcohol below: fermenting wines and brewing beer. I deduced with little difficulty that this must have been a storage area for the tavern that had been magically enchanted by the mage mercenaries to protect their booze.

The amazon noticed this oddity as well and voiced her questions aloud. "You sleep in the wine cellar? How did you find this place?" she asked curiously. "It's protected by magic, are you a mage too?" she continued, slightly surprised.

The girl shook her head. "No, I'm not a mage, but one of my friends is. She gave me the password to get down here. She didn't like the idea of me staying out by myself at night either. The entire place is secure, I've slept down here for almost as long as I've been here," she encouraged. "I know it might not look it," she assured as she jumped into the dimly lit space below, "but it's well protected from the black water outside so you don't have to worry about being disintegrated while you sleep," she finished jokingly from below.

"That's always a positive," the amazon snorted briskly as she jumped down into the dark space alongside the child.

I watched the druid's grey mutt turn in a circle where it stood three times, scouting the rock beneath its paws before it laid down. It was still attentively, although passively checking its surroundings. Perhaps it was like me and hadn't dismissed the earlier sounds that had been unaccounted for.

"Are you coming, Piricus?" the amazon called from below after my momentary pause.

I took one last discreet look around, checking for anything that could even be minutely out of place. This is one time when having the amazon's life-detecting sixth sense for myself would have been useful. I didn't like the thought of spending time in a condensed space with only one exit, no matter how concealed the location. My quick visual sweep didn't turn up anything, and other than feeling a dozen or so smaller auras in the tavern behind me I couldn't sense anything magical.

The druid's mutt snorted lazily and exhaled a weary breath through its nose as it looked at me. Well, if something happened, the mutt would be the first to know.

I nimbly jumped down into the darkened chamber below without saying anything and took a look around. The space was small, maybe ten feet by ten and packed over every inch with old, wooden crates. A few boxes of beer were stacked over each other, consuming all the space up to the ceiling, and a degenerate-looking table with only three unstable legs occupied the one usable corner of this room. It was underneath the table that I noticed a short scrap of frazzled cloth on the filthy floor. Next to the swatch of fabric were a tiny beeswax candle and a musty old book with a severely beaten leather cover. Judging by the pooled wax beside the candle and the positioning of the two objects, it must have been the place the little brat slept.

The girl lit the candle carefully with a small stone, taking great caution not to move it too close to any of the alcoholic containers. Once the space had enough light for a bat to use, she uttered the magic words to close the overhead door.

The amazon watched it close somewhat tensely; I could clearly tell she and I shared the same claustrophobic sentiment in this place. There was hardly any free space to stand, which to my great displeasure put the three of us nearly touching.

"Sorry about the mess in here," the girl apologized as she brushed a thick layer of dust off of a crate and onto one behind it. "I would normally have a place prepared for you to sleep, but I never had a reason to think anybody would be staying with me. And since I'm kind of inconspicuously borrowing this place from the Iron Wolves, I decided to leave everything where it was," she explained bashfully. "I know you're probably about to say there isn't enough room in here, but let me rearrange a few things," she suggested hospitably and tried to fit her frail arms around an enormous wine crate.

"Allow me," the amazon offered simply and she took the crate herself after watching the child struggle with it for a few moments. "How'd you get that wound on your shoulder?" she continued, glimpsing an injury on the child in the near blackness.

Whatever happy-go-lucky hostess attitude the girl had earlier vanished immediately. Even in the darkness I could clearly see the pained expression that crossed her face.

"I'm sorry," the amazon apologized tactfully. "It just looks serious and I wanted to make sure you were alright," she admitted honestly as she finished relocating the crate. She picked up another that the girl gestured toward wordlessly and began to move it also.

"I don't mean to me rude," the girl said somberly. "It's not something I like to think about, let alone talk about," she explained vaguely.

"Your personal life is your own, girl," I snorted briskly. "You don't want to share then don't."

I was definitely not in any mood to hear some little street-shrimp's sob story. My priority right now was getting some rest, but there was one story I actually did want to hear. I wanted to hear the amazon's vision, as it could provide me information vital to my vengeance that I didn't have yet.

"Excuse him," the amazon half-way apologized for my blatant uncaring. She finished rearranging crates and then seated herself atop one. "Your spot is right there," the amazon informed simply as she tapped a row of crates joined beside hers with her foot.

"I apologize again;" the girl said meekly, "sleeping on top of those can't be very comfortable."

"It's fine," the amazon reassured. "We're both warriors, trust me we've had worse," she continued, shooting me a precursory glare in the darkness. "The main issue is that we stay hidden for the night," she reminded with a tired sigh.

"I should have remembered that," she admitted absently.

Having eyes well-adjusted to dim spaces, I could clearly see that the girl was eyeing the amazon questioningly. She wanted to ask her something plain as day, but her pursed lips suggested she was consciously holding back.

"Spit it out shrimp, whatever you want to ask her," I insisted flatly. "I don't want to be kept awake by a slumber party."

The girl turned to me with an odd expression. "You can see that clearly in here?" she asked in surprise. "You must have spent a lot of time in dark places," she furthered.

"Goes with the territory," the amazon replied for me. "Piricus is a necromancer," she explained, evoking a hiss from me. That wasn't something I wanted the little urchin to know, especially since I had to spend a night in her space.

The girl tensed visibly upon learning this new information, though she didn't do anything openly adverse. She moved to sit under the table, surveying both of us with curiosity now, not just the amazon.

"Going to have nightmares?" I asked the girl sarcastically as her eyes flickered from the amazon towards me every couple of seconds.

"No," she answered simply. "If you're implying that I am afraid of you, you'd be wrong," she asserted. "Trust me I've seen things far scarier than you are," she admitted darkly, "though I'm told necromancers in battle can do some very disturbing things. I know it's rude to stare at people," she continued with a shrug, "but I just think it's strange a paladin would travel openly with a necromancer."

"Believe me shrimp, it's not by choice," I insisted sourly.

"So you're not one of his friends?" she asked, surprised and slightly alarmed.

"Not by a long shot," I declared profoundly. "In fact I despise him. Still want me to stay in your pit?" I continued, starting to feel the ire I possessed for the Zakarum flare within.

The child surprised me. Instead of becoming defensive or moreover, afraid, she answered with an accepting demeanor not unlike the paladin would have. "I will not turn someone in need away because they don't respect the same people I do. You're entitled to your own opinions about things, and regardless I'll let you stay here," she professed stoutly.

I snickered. "You sound just like the moron," I admitted truthfully. She did sound exactly like him and it was starting to irritate me immensely.

"You wanted to ask me a question before," the amazon reminded, cutting me off. "What was it?"

"It would take a long time to answer," she responded honestly, "and I can tell that you're both very tired. I'll let you rest," the girl assured considerately.

"It's about Scorpious," the amazon deduced simply as she locked her eyes on the child's. I could feel a slight tingle pass between the two and knew that the amazon's gift had activated for some reason. Realization passed over the amazon's face. "I know why you look familiar now. I saw you in his mind," she recalled aloud.

The child blinked in surprise. "You saw me in his mind? How?" she asked interestedly.

"I'm an amazon and it's a gift my people sometimes have," she answered plainly.

"What did you see?" the girl furthered curiously.

"You when you were younger. There were was someone with you, a little boy. That's really all I saw, but Scorpious told me full the story," the amazon relayed. "He saved you and your brother from another paladin. That would explain why you admire him so greatly," she surmised.

I scoffed. "Yes, it makes perfect sense. You almost throw your life away for someone you've known all of five minutes," I pointed out sarcastically, fully knowing that this was something that the paladin would indeed do.

"That's part of the reason I admire him so much," the girl countered emotionally. "He risked his own life to save ours and protect what's right, even when it put him against his commander," she started, seemingly enamored with the memory.

"Girl, knowing the nature of paladins better than you ever will, he was probably sent to kill you and just had a weak moment," I pointed out bluntly.

"I acknowledge that he was," she admitted without hesitation. "He was sent to kill me and I hated him the first time I laid eyes on him," she confessed.

"That's a short time for such a big change," the amazon pointed out factually. "What happened?" she asked, apparently sincerely interested. "When you saw him earlier it was like you'd loved him all your life," she continued validly.

The girl slouched against the wall and stared into the space behind the amazon gravely. "It goes back to things that I like to remember, but after that always comes the things that I don't," she stated stiffly.

"I won't force you to tell me if you don't want to," the amazon assured, concurring sentimentally with what I'd said before.

"Either tell us or don't, street-shrimp. I'm getting tired of hearing you mention it halfway," I demanded grouchily. The whole half-ass explanation thing never sat well with me, especially when people kept mentioning it repeatedly.

The amazon growled at me disapprovingly, though my irritated statement seemed to jar the child's tongue.

"You're right. Only telling someone half a story is annoying. I'll try to be brief about it," the girl promised sadly. "I'm sure Scorpious already told you that he stopped the other paladin, but Jeremy and I were forced to run away. A bunch of the paladins were chasing us and I knew we couldn't outrun them. I had absolutely no idea what to do other than run; I was seven at the time. I thought we were dead for sure, and then someone grabbed us both and pulled us out of sight. It was a man I'd never seen before. He hid us in a burning building, knowing that the paladins didn't look for us there. I remember that he shielded us from the fire somehow, and later I found out that he was a paladin too," she began. "His name," she breathed both with happiness and misery, "Was Khalim Valorwind."

"Scorpious' teacher," the amazon supplied softly, citing some unknown tale of the paladin's she'd heard.

The girl nodded. "Yes. He cured my brother Jeremy of the Plague of Undeath that night. We hid in that house for a while after the flames died out, and a day later Khalim came back for us. We had nothing; we'd just lost our entire village and our house. Both our parents before that…well I don't like to think about it," she shivered tensely.

"They became zombies and probably tried to eat you," I interjected bluntly. "That's what happens at the end of the plague."

"You didn't have to say it," the girl whimpered tragically.

"What happened next?" the amazon distracted, glowering at me in the dark.

"Khalim took us to another village, one that the paladins had already deemed 'cleansed', and arranged for us to stay with a family of his friends. Khalim came back to see us often over the next few years and he personally taught me the word," she continued with a small smile fleeting across her mouth. "I think he considered us like blood-children, I know Jeremy and I both considered him more of a father than the one we lost. Khalim helped me to see the good in a lot of situations I had been harboring hatred over. One of them was Scorpious," she confessed shamelessly. "I blamed him for the destruction of my house, which I thought in delusion, could still be saved back then. Maybe it's because I had nowhere else to go and the house held some good memories, which were all I had left. I even blamed him for the death of my parents somewhat, which was not his fault in the slightest," she furthered without omission.

"I hated him until Khalim told me about him. Khalim knew Scorpious well and said he was like his son. Over his visits, he told me several stories about good things that Scorpious had done and the struggles he'd gone through. I started to see him less as an inhuman monster and more like an ordinary person I could relate to. Khalim told me the final story a year later when he thought I knew enough contexts to truly understand. Even though I'd just heard stories up to that point, I felt like I knew Scorpious personally. And so, when Khalim told me what happened to Scorpious after he renounced the order to save my brother and me, I realized for the first time just how great a sacrifice he gave. He gave up his way of life, all the people he'd ever known, and was even willing to lose his own life to save ours. And we were just some random kids he'd never met before. Instead of destroying my life, he was the one that saved it. More than that, the older I got, the more I started to admire him for what he did. Khalim said that he was an extraordinary person and now I know why. Even among paladins, giving up your life for somebody you don't know is difficult. They're only human…" the girl trailed off in reverence.

I growled in distaste. This child's fairytale of forgiveness was unbecoming. I decided to tell her the reason why and end this idealistic prattle. "Didn't stay that way, did they?" I laughed coldly. "Your self-righteous paladins? They didn't stay human," I reminded.

Whatever small peace that memory brought the girl disappeared entirely with that statement. "No," she breathed silently aghast, "No they didn't."

"Piricus!" the amazon hissed roughly, seeing the torment my words had inflicted upon the girl. "Did you have to take it that far?" she huffed at me crossly. "She's just a girl!"

"I don't know what you're so upset about, amazon. I just stated a simple truth," I shrugged nonchalantly, though she was right in the fact I'd been willfully malicious. I despised both orders of Zakarum so much I simply couldn't help myself.

The amazon started to retort harshly, but the girl stopped her. "He's right. It is what happened and there's no denying that. I'll tell you the rest even though it hurts, because I think you need to know if you're going up against them," she offered with the paladin's same self-sacrificing behavior. "Two years ago, everything went to hell unexpectedly. Jeremy and I were meeting with Khalim for dinner and we were both excited. We hadn't seen him in nearly six months and we were missing him terribly. I knew something was wrong the moment he came in," the girl recollected grimly. "He didn't look like himself. It looked like he hadn't slept in weeks, he had deep circles and bags under his eyes and his beard was all straggly where he always kept it neatly trimmed. He'd lost a tremendous amount of weight; his armor was actually starting to slide off in places," she continued gravely. "He was really pale and really tired. I asked him if he was well, and he did what he normally would do when I got upset," she reminisced painfully. "He hugged me and told me not to worry. We sat down at the table, just the three of us, because our adoptive family had gone out for a town meeting. We'd just said grace for the meal when the demons came crashing in," the child shuttered.

"Demons?" the amazon asked seriously, paying close attention to the story.

"I guess not exactly at that point," the girl muttered morbidly. "They were people we knew, but they'd been twisted somehow. They still looked like people, but their eyes were solidly black. I recognized one of our neighbors as she pulled a cleaver on me. I was so stunned I couldn't react, but Khalim did. Khalim grabbed his sword and managed to fend them off well at first. He used several of his auras to try and cleanse them while he was protecting us, but after a few minutes it was clear whatever had hold of them was beyond his power to remove. He was forced to kill them. Neither one of us knew what was going on; we had absolutely no warning before our townspeople turned on us. Looking back on it now, I know Khalim knew something about it he never told us. I think he knew why it was happening. The three of us left the house immediately; Khalim told us it wasn't safe there anymore and he wanted us to stay close because he could tell more of the corrupted villagers were nearby. We made it out of the village safely thanks to Khalim and joined up with a ten more people from the village that had managed to escape," she furthered.

"Sounds like a clean getaway," the amazon commented with a frown, "but I can tell from your face it wasn't."

The girl sniffled and a tear actually fell from her eye. "No, it wasn't. Our plan was to come straight here, to the Kurast Docks. Khalim said he knew somewhere safe we'd be welcomed in the eastern lands. We made it to the middle of what used to be upper Kurast. When we got there a company of paladins was waiting for us. I thought they were on our side at first, so did Khalim . . . . He tried to talk to them, but they just stood there like they couldn't hear him. I know now that it was because they couldn't understand him anymore, they were all demons. They didn't attack us immediately, they were waiting for something. A few seconds later," the girl continued with revulsion in her voice, "six bigger demons came out. They were the ugliest things I've ever seen," the child admitted fearfully. "I found out later that they were humans once. They were the other members of the council Khalim was a part of. I've never been able to get Khalim's face from that moment out of my mind," she said as another tear fell. "He knew he was going to die and the only thing he cared about was protecting us. He started yelling at us to run away. He was shouting that he was the one the demons wanted and we needed to get as far away as we could. I didn't want to leave him," the child croaked pitifully. "I couldn't abandon my father. Somebody from the town knocked me out and carried me away," she informed somberly, "and I'm grateful that I wasn't awake to see Khalim's last moments. My brother, Jeremy did, and he never recovered from the sight. Khalim never had a chance, even as strong as he was. One of the monsters had an ice power; Jeremy said it came after him first and knocked him over, before the rest of the demons joined in and ripped him into pieces," she choked in internal agony.

The amazon eyed the child sympathetically. "I'm sorry," she said gently.

"So how did you end up here then, girl?" I asked frankly. "I doubt you'd get very far with demons that strong chasing you," I added flatly. I'd actually started to find relevance in this outcast's story a few minutes ago because she was revealing information about my potential enemies. Perhaps I could use this half-pint paladin-lover's knowledge to my advantage.

The girl looked at her filthy feet, unable to look at either of us any longer. She seemed to shake with grief for a moment, and then she steeled her voice. "Of course we didn't get very far," she assured with a stony expression. "Everybody died except Jeremy, me, and one other person that never told us his name. I was unconscious, so I only know what Jeremy told me. He said that the person carrying me got killed by one of the corrupted paladins. He said I fell into one of the sewer entrances when the person dropped me and he ran in after me. The demons must have been too preoccupied to bother with us, because Jeremy told me we were down there for a while and nothing happened. He thought I died I was out so long. When I woke up, we were still in the sewers. Jeremy and I spent a few days down there I think, it's hard to be sure when there's no sunlight anywhere. I eventually calmed him down enough for us to start walking. We ran into the other person towards the end of the sewers. He'd escaped the demons by hiding down there too. I guess the rotten smell kept the monsters from detecting us. The other person was an adult, and said he knew the way to the Kurast Docks. He showed us the way out of there, and we managed to go undetected for a week before the demon caught up with us," she recalled gravely.

"It came in the night," she continued with a hiss. "I don't know how it managed to find us that far from Travincal, but one of the six demons that killed Khalim had been tracking us. It used dark magic to light the adult we'd been traveling with on fire. He burned alive in front of us before we could do anything; I still have nightmares about it sometimes. The demon tried to use its magic on Jeremy next, but it failed," she growled.

"Failed?" the amazon asked oddly.

"Its magic couldn't hurt him or me. I don't know exactly how it worked," she clarified with a strange tone. "We managed to get away," the child continued, "but I knew it wouldn't be long before it found us again. You don't understand the look that thing gave me when we got away. . . . It was like I'd dealt it a personal insult . . . . I saw the resolve in its eyes. It wanted to kill me badly," she breathed nervously.

"That usually happens when hunters don't get their way," I stated simply. "I would imagine it is extremely embarrassing for a powerful demon to let two small-fry get away from it."

"Not both of us are here right now," the girl snapped at me miserably. "It killed Jeremy three days later even though I did everything I could to protect him. That's what gave me the scar on my shoulder," she revealed emotionally. "I should have died with him, but by that time we were close to the docks. Ormus and a few of the Iron Wolves found me and drove the demon away. He brought me here inside the barrier and healed my shoulder the best he could. I've been here ever since," she concluded tragically.

"What about the demon?" the amazon asked somberly. "The council member that was hunting you? Has it still been seen around here?"

The girl rested her chin on her knees wearily. "Not that I know of. The Iron Wolves do a really good job of keeping us safe and so far nothing's been able to break through the barrier. But when I asked Ormus if he thought the demon had given up, he said no. I told all this to one of my mercenary friends and she insisted that I stay down here at night," she answered ruefully.

"I am very sorry for your losses, Jenny," the amazon consoled genuinely once the girl was silent. "You've been through more than anyone your age ever should have to."

"How are you not insane, little girl?" I asked bluntly after the conclusion of her tale. I found it hard to believe that after going through all of that this little shrimp was still even remotely able to function. Lesser occurrences had shut most of the adults down completely. "Why bother to exist anymore?" I added sarcastically.

"Khalim often told me that everything happens for a reason and that God can make good come from terrible things. I've been clinging to that with everything I have. Maybe one day, I'll make all the difference," she responded, straining to be optimistic. "It helps me to read every night," she added, touching the decrepit tome beside her candle softly. "This was Khalim's personal bible. Jeremy grabbed it off the table before we left town. When the Iron Wolves brought me my brother's body for the final rights, one of them gave this to me. It's a small piece of both Khalim and Jeremy I have to remember them by," she added softly. "I've been praying for a long time that God would send something good my way," she confessed truthfully, "And it seems like he answered me. To be honest, I seriously thought about just giving up on everything only a few days ago, and then I found out Scorpious was still alive. He saved my life and inspired me. I want to return the favor if I can," the girl vowed adamantly.

"Okay, I've had quite enough sentimentality for one night and I don't want to hear anything else about that moron or I might snap myself. It's past your bedtime child, go to sleep," I commanded starkly.

"I think I will. I've kept you both up a long time," she apologized. "I hope anything I've said can help you in the future. Chyemme, can I go with you in the morning and see Scorpious?" she requested to the amazon sincerely.

The warrior woman nodded stoutly. "Of course. I think he'll want to see you as well," she promised.

"Thank you," the girl responded with gratitude as she lay down onto the floor. She blew out the small candle, blackening the space abruptly once we'd moved onto our respective sleeping platforms. It didn't take long for the little girl to fall into a light sleep and soon she was snoring softly.

I settled onto my stack of crates stiffly, hating the feeling of a hard surface grinding into my back. I tried to ignore both the pungent smell of stale alcohol and the ticklish feeling of the amazon's hair across my nose. She'd chosen to place her head next to mine so our feet were pointing to opposite ends of the room.

"Amazon," I grumbled somewhat irately, "the smell of your breath is hardly better than your feet. Move over," I insisted promptly as I flicked the strand of her long hair out of my face. Unsettling emotions stirred in my mind about having another human being physically that close to me. Especially because it was the amazon. It was a strange dichotomy; on one hand I trusted her enough to let her sleep where she was, but on the other, a large part of me still resented that feeling of complacency.

"I can move, that's fine," the amazon whispered in my ear flatly. "Don't complain if I roll over and kick you in the face while I sleep," she snorted. "You deserve it after the grief you gave that girl," she continued irritably. "And since she's sleeping, I'm not going to wake her by talking across the room. You'll have to wait for me to share my vision with you," she insisted in a muted voice.

I growled. "Then stay where you are," I demanded icily. "It's just as well; you'll likely cause me a severe headache either way."

The amazon chuckled softly beside me. "I knew you'd come around. I don't know how much this will help you," she said in a hushed tone, "because I'm still trying to make sense of it myself. Maybe telling you will be productive for both of us," she added thoughtfully.

"I'm not sure anything about you will ever make sense, amazon," I snorted. "But Trag 'Oul knows you might surprise me. Go ahead," I insisted impatiently. For some reason I felt urgency. I wanted the amazon to say what she had to say without further delay because my gut was telling me she was going to be interrupted at any moment.

I was right. The amazon opened her mouth to answer me and pandemonium broke loose above us. The high-pitched chittering from earlier returned five times as loud. I could hear feral snarling, several unknown masses smashing around obnoxiously, and people screaming. The sounds of battle were preceded only by the mutt's alerted howl, which in itself was cut short. A pained yelp told me that the animal had just sustained an injury from something.

The amazon was on her feet in a blink and tripping over the closely-packed objects in the blackness. "Belthem!" she cried out in alarm, stupidly fearing for a mutt in the chaos overhead. The girl was also up and moving, I heard a thud as she smacked her head into the table.

"Jenny let us out of here!" the amazon insisted urgently.

The child quickly said the spell to recreate our exit. The amazon didn't wait for it to be fully formed before she flung it open and vaulted off a crate into the night air with her crystal sword drawn.

"What's happening?" the girl cried in alarm as I followed quickly in the amazon's steps out of the space.

"Looks like you have a rat problem," I announced flatly when the child stupidly followed me outside. Well, it was mostly true. These were rats of a different kind. The small, shrill-shrieking demons were scurrying around in a blur, not just here it seemed, but all over the settlement. I saw the amazon swiftly block a carving knife the size of her head with her sparkling sword and kick a miniature menace into the acidic water below.

"Rat men," she hissed nastily, swinging at another one. "How quaint."


	7. Chapter 7

AN: Recent events being what they are, hopefully I'll have more time to commit to this story. I sincerely apologize for the prolonged delay; I've had some VERY serious stuff going on. Thanks to all of you for your continued reviews and support. Although I didn't win in the contest I submitted it for, I've posted the short story I wrote on here for all of you. It's called "A Druid's Desideratum" and it's about Cloudyous' back story if anyone's interested in checking it out. It's posted in the Diablo category as its own short story so enjoy =) As another side note, this chapter is technically part 1 of 2. I was getting a little long in pages for this one so I decided to split it; I know it might end a little abruptly. I'm a hostage of the plot bunny; I must go where it decides to take me. The good news is that part two is nearly complete and you will see it within the next few days for sure.

Disclaimer: I don't own Diablo or Diablo 2. All copyrights are still in effect and property of Blizzard Entertainment.

A Fiery Disposition

Chyemme

The shrill screeches from the numerous demons rushing all around us were setting my teeth on edge. The high, squeaking sounds were grating against my last nerves. I was beyond tired and immensely irritated. Why was it whenever we settled in to rest the demons decided to raise hell? This annoying raid did, however, provide me with one positive aspect. I had multiple, suitable targets for my insomniac aggressions.

The dying scream of the demon I'd just kicked into the acidic water acted as a rallying point; oddly, instead of running away, the twelve or more of them assaulting us regrouped and charged together, casting themselves as a solid wall of three-foot knives. Despite my irritations and the sleep-deprived sluggishness of my mind, I couldn't deny that the circumstances of this were unbelievably odd. I immediately placed the source of the earlier suspicious noises, seeing them in front of me. These demons had to have been in the city before we bunked with Jenny. Why were they attacking now? Why not immediately when they came in? They were also gathered strangely around the backside of the tavern, a place that few knew about the existence of. A horrified scream from some unseen woman nearby told me additionally that these little terrors weren't isolated to our side of the docks.

I momentarily diverted my attentions to glance around the area for Belthem. All three of us in the wine cellar heard his pained yelp, and I knew he had to have been injured. I hadn't seen him when I first came through the trap door, or even heard a sign of him. My search was fruitless and I was running out of time. I didn't see him anywhere, nor did I see any traces of blood or fur. I thought for a horrified instant that he must have fallen into the acid water, but a feral growl from behind me gave me reassurance enough not to worry.

The grey timber wolf snarled viciously, though it was a muffled sound. I checked behind myself and sure enough, I found Belthem tearing savagely into the face of a screaming rat demon he'd pounced on. That must have been the demon that attacked him in the first place, because next to it was a dismembered limb that still grasped an oversized cleaver. I could clearly distinguish the marks of Belthem's fangs in the severed arm and consequently, the ones in the monster's face when it finally stopped squirming. By contrast, Belthem himself was sporting a deep cut in his left side that was still dripping a fair amount of blood. The wound didn't slow the focused wolf down; with a fierce bark, Belthem finished the demon by ripping out its throat. The demonic trachea was still vibrating and contracting, trying obstinately to finish its last, unheard screech in Belthem's jaws.

Belthem promptly spat the bloody demon innards onto the dock and then turned to me on edge as the line of miniature menaces in front of me charged uttering jittering war cries of gibberish. I had to admit, these little bastards were quite speedy. Beside me, Piricus threw a shimmering bolt of necromantic energy into the middle of the line, killing one of the monsters and effectively breaking their charge in half. The demons scattered hastily with unpleasant squabbling sounds; six headed towards Belthem and I while the remaining five bolted after him.

Belthem crouched into a defensive position, anticipating the jabbering demons' arrival with intense concentration in his wild eyes. It was a focus that was sharply interrupted moments later by an urgent sounding howl from somewhere out of sight. I knew instinctively it must have been Sky; besides her and Belthem, I'd wager there were no other wolves permitted on the Kurast docks. This could only mean that she was in trouble and perhaps Cloudyous as well, judging by the way Belthem started to whine and yip nervously from beside me.

"Go to him! I can handle these little bastards," I commanded firmly, unsure if he could understand my words.

Apparently, he must have at least understood I was giving him permission to leave; Belthem gave me an affirmative sounding bark before weaving nimbly around an oncoming monster and dashing swiftly around the tavern corner and out of sight. I trusted that Belthem was more than a match for whatever he'd encounter and I quickly turned my attention back to my own group of assailants.

The demon pigmies had readjusted themselves rapidly and continued pressing the attack, despite the loss of their fellows. I saw Piricus to my left strategically pick off two more creatures before the other three entered into striking range. I looked away, having no time to focus on anything other than myself. My flock of minute monsters closed in on me simultaneously, and I narrowly avoided three large carving knives aimed for various parts of my body. A fourth knife scraped across the top of my left greave, hissing as metal glanced across metal. I swiftly grabbed the small demon by a handful of its rough, ratty hair and tossed it awkwardly sideways into the group of its fellows. The hellish minion may have been small, but it was surprisingly heavy.

The demon I threw collided with two more and together the three of them tumbled into the bubbling, corrosive water. Their frenzied shrieking became cries of agony as the flesh melted off their writhing forms and they sank lifelessly into the murkiness. That had been a decisive move; I'd reduced my opposition by half. I turned my crystalline sword sideways, blocking two attempted slices at once, as I hastily looked around for my third attacker. Strangely, it had disappeared. I didn't see it anywhere around my immediate area and a furtive glance towards Piricus' battle didn't turn up my vanished monster either. This concerned me deeply, as I grappled with the two rat men across my sword.

I brought my glistening blade upwards in an arc, hooking it under both oversized butcher knives at the handles. Like I had anticipated the twin, three-foot terrors obstinately refused to relinquish their disproportionate weapons. Being shorter than I was, my movements pulled both of them onto their tip-toes and exposed everything underneath their hairy chins. I jumped nimbly into the air and kicked with both my feet, hitting each one square in the face. The two demons staggered backwards sharply, and as luck would have it, one lost hold of its enormous cleaver. Its fellow fell clumsily and impaled itself upon the stray weapon with a grotesque gurgle.

The sole remaining demon took an exaggerated look around and realized with a discontented screech that it was alone. It seemed that Piricus had simultaneously finished his own battle and he turned to me expectantly. I took a quick inventory of the demonic body count around him, and there was still no trace of my missing monster.

I heard a nervous yelp from behind me and soon after Jenny rushed to my side, trying to grab my arm.

"Chyemme!" she breathed urgently, "Watch out!"she piped tensely and pointed to my right, trying to alert me to something.

I turned to follow her gaze, and that's when I noticed my missing monster charging toward us rapidly. Oddly, it was carrying yet another monster that had recently appeared from nowhere on its bony shoulders. The rat demon had abandoned its cleaver and the fellow demon perched on its shoulders carried no visible weapon either. The demon being carried was adorned strangely; it had an arcing headdress made of plainly-colored, frayed feathers secured into its coarse mane with small bones of various origins. I distinguished sourly with my inner sight that a few of them were human finger bones. Together the little terrors were taller than me by about two feet, but that fact did absolutely nothing to frighten me. I readied my shimmering sword to make quick work of unarmed the monster. Maybe then we could end this mayhem and get some sleep.

I swung my sword fiercely as the demons started to enter brazenly into striking distance, aiming to kill them both with a single swing. The top demon chirped something and the one serving as the legs of this duo stopped abruptly and stood still, just shy of my sword. Both of the small menaces started to shake, clacking the multiple bone-jewelry pieces they wore together ominously. They were emitting peculiar guttural sounds that resembled coughing, especially the one on top.

I stared into its malicious black eyes for a moment, trying to decipher this pair's intentions. They hadn't run away, despite the close proximity of my strike. A sinking feeling entered my gut when I realized these little bastards weren't coughing, they were laughing. The one on top opened its toothy mouth wide and belched loudly, spewing the foulest-smelling sulfuric odor and a wide column of intense red fire.

I was too close to the demon; I had absolutely no chance to dodge this unexpected burst of arcane. Not even all my years of intense acrobatics training or my keen Amazonian reflexes would be able to bail me out of this. I swiftly moved backwards about three strides, trying to put some last second space between me and my opponents, but it did little good. I was still at the edge of this fiery attack's range, and even that was enough for a serious injury. The searing flame licked across the top of my arm, slicing an agonizing scarlet wound across my skin. I instinctively moved my forearm to shield my face, only to have the metal protecting me super-heat and burn the underlying skin savagely. I could hear the demon step forward, immersing me further into the middle of its attack.

I was unable to suppress the excruciated yelp and it passed through my teeth. I turned my head away only to find, to my further horror, that Jenny was still by my side and being subjected to the same demonic magic. Everything had happened so fast. I guess she had no chance to dodge either. My heart cried out in misery along with my flesh as I glimpsed her. We would both be dead in moments.

I felt Jenny grab my opposite elbow in startled reflex. I guess in the confusion she tried to push me aside, or maybe take us both to the ground. I was in agonizing pain and too distracted to know for sure, but somehow the poor child ended up in front of me. I closed my eyes in tensed anticipation.

For some unexplainable reason, I felt the tremendous pain begin to recede along with the blistering heat. I could feel the molten waves of magic passing to the sides of me instead of accosting me directly and in place of the hideously hurting sensation of the rat demon's fire I felt a familiar energy ripple across my exposed flesh. The physical relief was immediate, but this ordeal was far from over.

Jenny let out a sickening scream from in front of me that sent vibrations through my armor and she was suddenly wrenched roughly away from me. There was a flash of green light and I heard one of the rat men squeal defiantly. I could smell the thing's horrid, acrid blood as it splattered all over my injured skin and steaming armor. Something heavy hit the ground beside me, and then something knocked into my side harshly. All the while Jenny continued to yell frantically.

I immediately opened my eyes and realized that I was falling sideways, on path for the acidic water beside the dock. From the brief glimpse I was able to get, Piricus had killed the fire-breathing pygmy and halted the flame, but the remaining one had pushed me in an attempt to clear a path on which to flee. I also noted in that instant, that the remaining demon had a hold of Jenny's hair and had also plunged its claws on the other hand deeply into her left shoulder. Somehow, she was still alive and the monster was dragging her down the walkway. As I watched, Piricus took careful aim for them both.

I managed to grab one of the walkway's decaying anchorage posts awkwardly as I fell and I twirled my body around it back onto the solid wood. I landed with a painful slap against my injured arm and looked up just in time to see Scorpious and Ryelass closing the remaining distance between us. Scorpious looked first to me and then immediately after Jenny when he recognized her voice. A pale color momentarily replaced the brown of his skin and a powerful urgency swept across his face. He started after them without hesitation, ignoring Piricus' oncoming attack completely.

"NO! Piricus stop!" I demanded starkly with what little breath I could muster. He didn't pay any attention to me and was a split second away from launching the curse on his hand.

Ryelass knelt down beside me protectively, eyeing my obvious wounds with grave concern. He removed something from his belt and I waved him on stubbornly, nearly smacking him in the face.

"I'm fine," I growled untruthfully, not taking my attentions from Piricus. "DON'T!" I snapped at him and Ryelass in one breath as both made to move.

Scorpious hadn't even gotten past Piricus' side when another figure landed in front of him. An icy vapor filled the air briefly before the newcomer threw an ice bolt after the fleeing monster. This magical missile had a much more promising trajectory; it was aimed explicitly for the left side of the demon's face, which was exposed and not for Jenny at all.

Piricus immediately ceased his spell with a loud and nasty hiss; the newcomer had effectively blocked his view with their body and for whatever reason, he hadn't blasted them.

Unfortunately, the ice spell missed its mark as the demon ducked around the corner of the tavern and out of sight, dragging the desperately struggling and shouting Jenny along with it.

Scorpious continued his urgent surge forward, but the newcomer grabbed his armored arm roughly as he made to give chase. I squinted in the dim light and could vaguely make out a coppery sheen on this person's arm. A stale breeze wafted across the area and fluttered through the woman's maroon-colored hair as she turned to us, halfway pushing Scorpious backwards with the movement. I didn't need to hear the voice to know who it was. The inconsiderate way she shoved Scorpious was identification enough.

"Chasing her won't help any, seeing as those little hairballs all just up and vanished somehow. I think that was actually the last of them. Well, looks like hitting the hay won't be happening tonight. Muster your sorry lot right now, paladin, if you want any chance at saving her," Xialah barked gruffly.

"I…" Scorpious mumbled, slightly stunned by her rude display and moreover, by what had just occurred.

"I, I, I, I have no idea what you're saying when you mumble! Speak up!" she insisted snidely. "Alright, lemme rephrase that last sentence since you're having a hearing problem. Go," she started slowly accenting each word like Scorpious was some type of imbecile, "get...your…friends," she finished.

"Don't talk to him that way!" I snarled harshly from the ground, feeling all of my earlier ire rekindle with ferocity enough to rival my current injuries. My blatant distaste for this woman caused my muscles to tense involuntarily, and agony pulsated down my entire arm. I couldn't help it. As much as I mentally fought the yelp, it came through my lips anyway.

I noticed that Ryelass and Piricus were both looking at me, though for completely different reasons, I guess. Ryelass was of course, intently worried. It was written all over his face in the tightly drawn lines across his forehead and the deep frown drawn across his pursed lips. Piricus watched the steam radiate from my armor in tendrils and a calculating expression flickered behind his eyes when they came to rest on my forearm. He seemed to be considering something internally, before his gaze returned to icy, masking his mental processes once more. Neither of them said anything, but both of them continued to stare at me.

Xialah craned her head around Scorpious and narrowed her eyes in the darkness. "Wow, is that you blondie?" she replied sarcastically. "You look like hell! What happened, did you run into a furnace face first? I know we had a talk about beauty favors, but damn, you shouldn't take these things literally!" she snickered.

"Shut your mouth, wench!" Ryelass demanded roughly, immediately foregoing all of his own good manners. "Don't talk to Chyemme like that! Just who the hell are you anyway, tavern tramp?" he spat in my defense.

"And you are her boyfriend?" Xialah snorted briskly. "Wow, you're barely taller than a barstool and definitely kinda scrawny," she taunted. "Well short-socks I happen to be your one and only guide. Unless you and butch blondie over there want to get lost in the middle of the jungle and die horrible deaths, which I assure you, doesn't affect my contract in the slightest, you should shut your midget mouth and do what I tell you. Every second you waste is another that those little bastards could kill the kid. I'm one of the only people who know where to find them and it isn't a quick hike. Now, use those short flanks and hop to it!" she sneered at him.

Ryelass huffed angrily beside me and was about to retort when Scorpious gave him an alternative course of action.

"Ryelass, take Chyemme to Ormus' hut immediately. She's in no condition to travel and we need to mobilize now," he said gravely. "I will go regroup the others," he asserted and left in silence without so much as an utterance in his own defense.

I watched him go somewhat enviously. A strong part of me wished I had Scorpious' self-restraint when it came to ignoring insults from people who irked me. I snorted ironically despite the immense hurt of my arm. This must have been the way everyone else felt about Piricus.

"Here Chyemme, please drink this and let me help you," Ryelass pleaded, trying once more to hand me some kind of potion.

"I don't need it!" I grumbled obstinately. I couldn't deny that my arm was burning like it was still aflame, but I didn't want to give this insufferable mercenary a reason to taunt me further. I shrugged Ryelass away from me sternly and returned to my own two feet in tremendous pain. "Where is Ormus?" I asked pointedly. "I will go by myself."

"Chyemme let me go with you, just to be—"Ryelass protested.

"I'm capable of taking care of myself!" I insisted testily. "I'm not a child, I'm an Amazon! I don't need you to look after me like I'm a toddler. Tell me where he is and then wait here for the others!" I insisted peevishly, too tired and in too much pain for this foolishness.

"Chyemme—"Ryelass tried one more time, much to my irritation. He was starting to become angry in his tone as well, but to my surprise, Piricus silenced us both with his interruption.

"Warrior, unless you want the amazon to jam your tongue through your throat, I'd let her do as she pleases. She's actually making sense right now, if your concern is rescuing that street-shrimp. Amazon, the mage usually occupies the town square, beside the Skatsimi monument. Don't get lost," he finished with his usual rudeness, "nobody's going to wait for you."

"I wouldn't want you to," I declared loudly to the three of them: Ryelass, Piricus, and Xialah. I turned away swiftly, feeling my eyes tear up. Crying had nothing to do with my mental state right now, it was a purely involuntary physical response, but I'd be damned before I let the others see me do it for any reason. Out of all the people in Sanctuary, those three would be the last I wanted to see me cry. Piricus, for obvious reasons, Xialah because I'd known her less than an afternoon and already despised her, and Ryelass because he'd never leave my side unless I knocked him out.

I rounded the corner out of sight, and then gingerly pulled my burning arm into my body to steady it. I hissed and two tears fell onto my cheeks, even though the movements had been slight. Unfortunately, the injury to my upper arm fell on the same side, rendering my entire left appendage one excruciating mass of burnt tissue.

I fought the rising agony in my mind and struggled to focus on finding my way back to the town square. The pyramid wasn't hard to spot; it was the tallest thing in what was left of the city. I unintentionally knocked into a few bystanders as I stumbled into the square. Oddly, they didn't even utter a word to me, but instead they backed away like I was dangerous. Fear swirled in their dim, lusterless eyes. Maybe the standoff in the square when we protected Scorpious had given them cause for caution around us. In any case, I didn't care and I was grateful nobody challenged me on my way to the stone steps, where I could vaguely make out the frame of the man named Ormus. He was surrounded by a mass of townsfolk, all of them injured from the looks of things. At the moment, Ormus was tending the leg of an older villager who was seated on one of the cracked, stone steps of the pyramid.

My inner sight triggered again when I looked at him, sending a wave of awareness into my already overloaded mind. It wasn't painful, but the sensations activated by my mental gift didn't mesh well with the already immense agony from my flesh. Thoroughly distracted by the bizarre combination, I stumbled and fell onto the ground in a daze like I'd just consumed an entire barrel of Amazonian Thunder Lager by myself.

The townspeople immediately scattered timidly when I dropped into their midst yelling out a string swear words half-slurred by pain. Ormus must have abandoned whatever task he was on, because when I looked up next, he was standing over me. A curious expression flickered over his gaunt face, but then he shook his head.

"Young amazon must know that the best way to accomplish anything is on her feet," he joked mildly. I had enough rational sense left to know that Ormus was trying to diffuse the tension in the leery mob around him. It also seemed like a socially backward way of trying to comfort me.

"Any help you could give me in returning to them would be appreciated," I mumbled, trying to contain the touchiness I knew was in my tone. I was not in any mood to joke around, nor did I have the time.

Ormus nodded apologetically and offered me a tattooed arm up. I tried to reach up with my good arm, but the motion placed an incredible strain on my burnt one and it dragged me back down in a wave of torment. I gritted my teeth and Ormus knelt beside me.

"Ormus sees that you have been in a most unfortunate encounter with the rat demons of Kehjistan. Be still and Ormus will try to repair the damage that has been done," he instructed.

He didn't need to tell me twice, any manner of motion was starting to cause me unbelievable misery. I laid down against the filthy stone ground and felt a tingle as Ormus connected his magical energy with my body. A purple glow washed over his hands and he placed them atop my exposed injury on my upper arm. My skin began to itch across the area as he worked, and then it stretched closed with an unsettling noise akin to the crinkling of paper. A fraction of the pain subsided as he did so, but it still left a considerable amount to contend with.

I watched from the ground as Ormus moved his weathered, scarred hands to my forearm. He rekindled the magic upon his skin and attempted to heal the grievous wound underneath my armor. Unlike the wound he'd just healed, the injury under my armor continued to sting, even when I felt Ormus' energy intertwine with it. Ormus seemed to struggle in the following moments; his face became strained and his hands started to shake. He ceased abruptly and withdrew his energy, frowning deeply.

"What's wrong?" I asked, starting to feel an increasing sense of worry.

Ormus shook his head grimly and then retrieved his golden staff from where he'd placed it on the ground beside himself. I noticed in concern that his hands were shaking, but when they made contact with the shaft of his staff, a muddled red glow passed into them and stilled them. He passed the head of the staff in the air over my arm with a swift movement, magically bringing my metal bracer off with a disgusting plop. I nearly vomited from the pungent smell produced as my skin, or what was left of it, met with the dank, befouled air.

I knew with one nauseating glance at my arm why Ormus appeared so grim. It was the worst injury I'd yet to have in my life. I could see my own muscles over most of it, and what tiny patches of skin were left had turned charcoal black. The burn had been so deep I hadn't bled, but the damage was extensive. I could see little metallic droplets that had fused into my tissue from my bracer. The metal had literally welded onto my skin in that brief moment of contact with the demon fire. I felt the revulsion bubble acid-like in my throat before I turned my head to the side and actually vomited over the ground. I had made the mistake of looking into the underside of my bracer, where a layer of my maimed skin still framed the inside like paint. The smell and sight were too much and coupled with the piercing pain; I blacked out a second later.

When I came to, I was lying on some type of reed mattress in one of the bamboo huts. This particular hut was tiny, but crammed full of objects. Little glass vials of all shapes were scattered haphazardly around on low-standing tables along with all manners of flowers and weeds. An eyeball of some sort was floating suspended in a glass jar and somewhere on a table I couldn't see the top of, something sounded like it was boiling in a metal dish. I didn't recognize the place and fear stared to seep in. I lifted my head as much as I was able, which to my dismay was only about an inch or so. I couldn't see anything, and it appeared like I was alone. I called out, but didn't receive an answer.

I tried to relax as I laid my head back down on the mattress beneath me. My arm sent painful shivers across my entire body and when I looked down at it, I found it wrapped in ratty old bandages. The fabric was dingy and smelled of rancid salt. I quickly opened my mouth and breathed through it instead, trying to fight back another wave of nausea. Some semi-sanguineous fluids were seeping through from underneath, further compounding my sense of dread.

I called out again and this time received a response. Someone I didn't know said something I couldn't make out and then an old, feeble-looking man limped out from behind the obscured table. By my first assessment he looked to be even older than Deckard Cain, although it could have been because he was in rougher shape. The man was deathly thin and his native tanned skin had darkened into a sickly brown. The wrinkles on his hands and face were accented by deep, purplish bruises and his hair resembled nothing more than frayed grey strings. He was draped in dirty white linen and leaned heavily on a thin stick. He looked me over curiously.

"Ah, so you're awake now are ya? I was beginnin' to think I'd have to set your corpse aside for the collector. An unpleasant thing, that," he remarked in a rambling voice.

"Who are you? Where am I? How long was I out for?" I inquired at once, starting to stir impatiently where I lay.

The old man smacked his stick on the floor with a hollow knock, as if in exclamation. "Oh, that's right. You're new here aren't you? I'm Alchor the Alchemist. I dabble in potions and salves, and I provide them for the people here occasionally. However, I don't like to be disturbed while I'm working, so if you're wise you won't make a habit of coming here. That is, when I get you well enough to leave," he ambled dismissively. "You're in my shop, and ya've been out for almost ten solid minutes. Ormus brought you in here after you fainted out in the square."

I groaned miserably. "He couldn't fix my arm. I have no idea what good a potion will do for it if a skilled healer cannot mend it."

Alkor scoffed loudly, a sound that proceeded into a fit of coughing. When he'd regained his breath after a loud wheeze he snorted. "Bite your tongue little missy! It's better to have one accomplished alchemist than a school of half-wit mages. Don't get me wrong, Ormus is marvelous, but I, and only I, have the capability to provide certain cures!"

I felt myself raising an eyebrow at the old man's outlandish claim, but I decided, for lack of better options, to give it a shot. "So you have a potion that can fix my arm?" I asked hopefully.

Alkor scratched the stubble on his chin in thought. "Nope," he said after a moment.

My spirits started to fall. "You're joking right?" I asked him skeptically. "There's absolutely no way I can fight with an injury like this. In this condition my arm is useless!" I spat with an inner hysteria starting to come to life.

Alkor nodded absently. "You're right about that," he admitted. "I was going to suggest amputation. It's best not to leave it in that state for too long anyway. I give you another hour before the infection sets in. And the variety we've been seeing around here travels to the brain first. You'll be insane in about an hour and a half," he answered nonchalantly.

I balked at the suggestion. There was no way under the gods I was going to make the conscious choice to lose my arm. If I did, then I might as well die in the process for all the good I'd be to the others. I'd have to return to the Isles, and then I'd have failed myself. I didn't know what pained me more. The thought of having to go home, if I even could anymore, critically injured for life and branded a failure for one, stupid moment, or the thought of what Piricus would think of me.

"Be serious!" I demanded irately. "This isn't funny!" I continued nastily.

Alkor stared me directly in the eyes. "I was being serious. I have absolutely no idea why people never take me seriously, especially when I tell them about the brain rot… and then lo and behold they're gibbering on my floor and convulsing almost like clockwork."

"There has to be another solution," I protested, hearing the desperation in my own tone. "There has to be. If not, why the hell did Ormus bring me in here!" I barked.

Alkor shrugged. "He didn't really say. I assumed it was just the usual. He gives me the crazies on their deathbeds hoping I can somehow pull a miracle out of my ass and make them better." He pulled a long, serrated knife off of the countertop toward his left and took a step in my direction.

Bubbles of light burst behind my eyes as I straightened myself immediately into a sitting position and tried desperately to stand from there.

"Don't touch me with that or you'll lose more than a limb, old man!" I snarled, meaning every word.

Alkor eyed me oddly, before he turned to his right and used one of the ridges of the blade to hook a red-hot wire from something I couldn't see. He pulled up with some difficulty, revealing the wire to be tied around some sort of broad-based vial that had been boiling. The bottle was clear, and the elixir based within was iridescent, shining green and reddish-pink most prominently.

"Pipe down will ya?" he laughed. "I only picked the thing up and ya got all squeamish! Sheesh, and somebody said ya were a warrior?"

I tensed, still watching the alchemist wearily. "What's that?" I asked as I gestured to the vial he'd just retrieved with my eyes.

Alkor looked down at it vaguely for a moment. "Oh! This. Yes, well, this my friend is one of my most remarkable potions ever! A young man brought me a very peculiar golden bird earlier this evening and between me and Elder Cain-who's in town by the way-did you know?" he continued forgetfully.

"Yes! Get to the point!" I demanded crisply, not unlike Piricus would have if he were here.

"Patience, patience," Alkor chided, "Us old people do occasionally get senile! Anyway, the Elder and I deduced that the golden bird actually contained the ashes of the renowned sage Qui-leh! From his ashes I was able to brilliantly concoct this potion, which we've conjectured has a great healing power," he explained.

Sounding completely like an overeager child, I asked him for it. "Can I have it?"

Alkor looked from the potion to my arm and then shrugged. "I guess. After all, I think it was one of your friends that gave it to me. He said that he traded somebody a Jade figurine for it. What a sap, whoever gave up that golden bird!"

"Wonderful. Thank you," I breathed and shakily managed to get onto my feet. I walked dubiously toward the counter and stumbled with every step, but I managed to get there and grab hold of the vial without falling.

I screamed as Alkor hit me with his stick in my injured arm. "Hey!" he huffed. "Who are you again? What are you doing with my potion!"

He really was losing his mind. I don't know that he was so much going senile as he was just going insane. I stifled a whimper and it turned into a growl. I yanked the cork out of the top and downed the contents before he could react further. The potion tasted like a disgusting mix of charcoal, burnt fish that had been cooked with the scales left on, and an old sock. I gagged profusely and coughed, wondering how anything that tasted so vile could have any sort of beneficial effect. I fell to my knees and landed on both of my hands, sputtering and choking on the awful aftertaste.

My body trembled and after a final wheeze, I heard Alkor laugh. "Goes down like rotten milk, eh? Well, it must have worked. Look at your arm," he announced, pointing with his walking stick to where the bandages had fallen off.

I moved my arm in front of my face in disbelief; the skin was smooth and unscarred. No traces of an injury were present at all, and the new skin felt as smooth to the touch as silk. All of the hideous pain had vanished, leaving everything good as new.

"Amazing," I breathed, flexing it. "You're a genius, Alkor," I admitted, though quietly. "A mad genius!"

He laughed again. "So I've been told. What did I do again?" he asked, genuinely confused.

"The potion," I prompted, suddenly having much more tolerance for this old man's antics.

"Oh! That! Well, I'm glad it went to good use, because that's the only one I'll ever have. Seeing your arm pull itself together like that was pretty impressive if I do say so myself. Too bad you didn't have somebody on their deathbed, though. I'd have killed to see what it would have fixed for them!" Alkor chuckled with genuine mirth.

My superior good mood instantly vanished and was replaced with a deep sense of guilt. "I have to go," I announced and walked out the door without saying anything else to the crazy potion-maker. My thoughts instantly turned to Scorpious and his terminal illness. How had I just overlooked him so easily? He was actually dying, whereas I only had a serious injury. Granted I could have lost a limb just now, but he was going to lose his life. Alkor himself had just admitted to me that the potion would probably have healed anything. My guilt intensified into self-loathing with every step toward the tavern I took. I had been so caught up in my own wants that I was completely selfish. Was I so damn important and self-centered that I'd put my wellbeing over my friend's life? The thought mulled over in my mind relentlessly until finally I stopped walking and stared blankly down at the rotting walkway beneath me.

No. I wasn't a selfish person. I'd proven that on countless occasions, hadn't I? I'd risked my life to fight the Prime Evil's minions for total strangers when even the stoutest of men would not. I cared deeply about the well-being of others. That was obvious, wasn't it? Somehow, I'd even managed to fall for the snidest one of them all, Piricus. That took considerable skill, I thought to myself sarcastically. I loved someone who everyone else hated. I was there when he needed me and when no one else was. That couldn't be the making of someone selfish, could it? Besides, Alkor couldn't have been completely sure the potion would have cured him anyway. What if I had given it to him and it didn't work? My arm would still be mutilated beyond repair and he'd still be dying. Then the potion would have been a waste and we'd both be in trouble. Besides, he still had time, didn't he? At the very least more time than I had to fix my arm.

These thoughts lessened some of the guilt, but out of all the un-pleasantries, one kept resurfacing like a slap to the face. I had given my word to Scorpious to find a cure for him or at the very least something to ease his pain. The potion I just drank without forethought could have done either. I made a promise to a friend that I had selfishly broken. I was so ashamed and repulsed by myself I didn't know what to think.

_It's not your fault. He did it to himself. He knew nothing good would come from jumping on top of Duriel. Why should you have to suffer and lose an arm for his stupidity?_

The dark, ruthless thought caught me unaware. Almost like a whisper in the wind, it slipped its way to the forefront of my mind. I found myself nodding absently. It was true. Why should I have to suffer for someone else's folly? He knew what he was doing could cost him his life and he was prepared to accept that reality. What reason did I have to feel guilty?

_Because he did it to save your life. Your life and everyone else's. Without him, every one of you would be dead by now_. _Not to mention he just saved your life again by protecting you from that rat demon. Without his aura, you'd have potentially lost more than an arm._

Like black against white, this new thought competed for dominance against its dark counterpart. The battle was brief. I shook my head vigorously, reviled by what my own mind had just proposed. Worse still, a small flicker of me had agreed with that horrible set of statements. What had just happened? My self-doubt about my character came flooding back to the forefront of my mind. Seriously, what kind of a person thinks those kinds of things? It was almost like it wasn't me at all, but yet the thoughts were distinctly my own. I slipped further into my inward domain of shame oblivious that I was still just standing there until someone called my name. I looked up and it was Alminus.

"Wha' are ya standin' around fur Chyemme? We've got a real emergency on our hands. Les' go!" he insisted simply, grabbing my arm lightly, though his lightly was actually quite powerful.

"Your grip is like a vice," I protested sorely, wincing in his hold.

"Sorry 'bout that," he apologized sincerely and relinquished me. "I'm jus' a lil' tense after wha' happened a lil' while ago. I was sleepin' n' then those tiny, chatterin' footstools ran in n' almost pegged my leg to tha' floor."

"Well, at least you got to sleep. I didn't get to at all," I informed sourly as we rounded the corner. Everyone was assembled, including Scorpious, whom looked me over with relief.

"How's your arm, Chyemme? Can you travel?" he asked sincerely, though he was brief in his tone. He was exhausted. I could see it in the lines around his mouth and the bags under his eyes. He wasn't the only one. I hastily looked away from his gaze, still too ashamed to tell him what happened. Not that we had time anyway, and I definitely wouldn't say anything in front of anyone else. Maybe, I thought sheepishly, I just shouldn't say anything about it. Ever. I'd never say anything, nobody would know, and I'd forget my own heartless folly.

"I'm ready," I assured, checking my belt over to make sure I hadn't lost any of my weapons. They were all there.

"Not without something to cover your arm," Ryelass insisted, eyeing my bare left arm.

"We don't have time for me to see the smith. Let's just go, I'll be fine," I insisted hotly, glaring at him.

"You're right about that, blondie. We were all about a second away from leaving your ass here," Xialah declared rudely from the head of the group. "I'm not going to waste any more time on talking, let's get a move on!" she demanded and started walking away almost too quickly to follow. "Put some spring in your steps people, we've got to cross over twenty miles before dawn!" she called back, irritated by our slow pace.

"No time to waste. Why don't you just let her lose her arm? She doesn't want your help don't waste it on her," Laurella insisted, glowering at Ryelass, who was still looking at me.

"I agree. I don't need your help," I added, somewhat surprising Laurella, who stormed by me with her bow clenched tightly in her hand.

"Behave yourselves," Vendra snorted and rolled her eyes. "We haven't even left town yet."

"Well, for one time, you no have thing to say about Piricus," Sovellis chuckled as he and Vendra moved past us.

"That's true. You've been awfully quiet since we all got here, Jackass," Vendra pointed out casually as she walked by him.

"Get a move on sorceress, you'll likely need to exert twice the effort to keep up with the weight of your arrogance dragging you down," he sneered in reply.

"We need to hurry or our guide will leave us," Cloudyous said simply as he moved past us with Gaia, the wolves, and Bibo in tow.

"She's like a leopard," I scowled. "Aggressive, fast, and doesn't give a damn about anything but herself."

I moved after Cloudyous, ignoring Ryelass completely before he could get on my nerves any further. We were nearing the edge of town when we passed through a bit of fog. I nearly jumped as something white wrapped around my arm and then solidified, encasing it firmly. It took my startled brain a moment to realize what I was seeing when the fog cleared. I wasn't in pain, and I wasn't under attack. White bone had materialized around my forearm, starting at the wrist and traveling all the way up to my shoulder under my pauldrons in interlocking, albeit odd-angled segments.

I flexed, testing the makeshift armor out. It was surprisingly heavy and dense, even slightly more so than the metal that had guarded my body beforehand. There was only one person among us with the power to do such a thing and it stunned me that he had. I turned to Piricus immediately upon leaving the mist.

"Keep walking and act like nothing happened or I will use them to pop your arm off for real this time," he threatened as we emerged behind the others.

"Why?" I asked, truly surprised. I also couldn't pretend I wasn't touched. For whatever reason, he'd chosen to help me.

"Because it's practical. That's why. Don't let it go to your sentimental head. You've got the most experience fighting in this type of environment and you're also the best marksman with this sorry lot. You're of more use with both your arms available to throw javelins. You're definitely more useful than they were, just lying around," he commented darkly, gesturing to the fractured corpses of three villagers behind us.

My warm fuzzies almost immediately turned into revulsion with the revelation I was wearing human bones, and the bones of innocent civilians at that. The demons must have killed them, but still, all the same it was a desecration of the honorable dead.

"Piricus!" I objected, suddenly feeling very uncomfortable in the armor he'd placed around me.

"Waste not," he replied simply, unabashed in the slightest. "As sorry as their outer selves were, their bones are surprisingly high quality. I'll be hard pressed to find anything else this promising out in the Trag 'Oul forsaken middle of nowhere. I have no idea why you're complaining. They were useless and probably detrimental to those unstable miscreants on the docks anyway. You won't find a better armor and they likely wouldn't be disposed of before rot set in and brought disease. They're making themselves useful amazon, much more so than they ever were in life. You should do the same. I don't think I need to tell you again that wasting my mana is a very serious transgression," he warned with an emerald light flickering behind his icy eyes.

I shivered uncomfortably. "You couldn't use a demon's corpse?" I protested. "I'm sure there were some of those lying around."

"Shows what you noticed," he snorted. "Amazon, you must be borrowing your observation skills from the sorceress," he sneered.

"What are you talking about?" I questioned. "There had to be at least one corpse."

"Tha's tha odd thing," Alminus interjected as he surfaced out of the mist and wiped at his eyes. "There wasn' even one demon body lyin' 'round anywhere. They all disappeared, even tha dead ones."

"Magic," Ryelass remarked, coming up behind Alminus. "That much is obvious but we've got no idea how or why they accomplished it. What's also obvious is that the people of Kurast need a new power source. Chyemme you—"he started, but then stopped and eyed my newly acquired bone armor with distain.

"That's disgusting," he growled, though aimed directly at Piricus and not at me.

"Well it works, for now," I countered, feeling defensive of Piricus' effort. I wasn't any keener on the actual armor than I had been a minute ago, but at least Piricus had done something _productive_ to help me.

Ryelass shook his head in disgust and then walked ahead of me, not saying anything else.

"How much damage does it take?" I asked, trying to resume my conversation with Piricus. I'd never worn bone armor before; knowing its advantages and disadvantages would be worthwhile.

Piricus smirked. "More than your last set, that's for sure. Look at it this way amazon. Now you won't light up like a firework. At least, on that side," he added sarcastically.

"How was I supposed to know that little bastard breathed fire?" I answered snappishly in my defense. Truth be told, I was highly embarrassed over the effects my carelessness had.

"It's called paying attention," Piricus answered with a snide snort.

"That's something nobody seems to be doing but me," Xialah called out from ahead of us. I have no idea how she heard us talking; she was more than twenty feet in front of us and surrounded by the others. She had paused at the edge of the jungle, and was standing on the last tile of the ruined Kurast stone. "Pay attention back there blondie, you might learn something useful. But what am I saying? That could just be my fruitless hope," she snickered at the end.

I was going to retort, but I decided to hold my breath for now, and watch what she did. I could feel a distinct aura washing off her hands and it melded into some sort of other energy invisible in the air around us. My guess was that she was removing the ward enough for us to get through.

Xialah stopped after one mere moment and let out an indignant laugh. "Are you listening back there, Blondie?" she said sarcastically, "because here's a lesson in observation. There's virtually nothing left of the ward. That damned sheet of magic took Ormus, Hratli, Asheara, and the rest of us Iron Wolves about two days of straight enchanting to make. It was weakening, true enough, but hell—it's just kind of gone now. Ergo, something pretty damn powerful had to be aiding those little pig-faced banshees. Something's out there people," she announced dynamically. "And it isn't a bunny rabbit."

"We could have told you that much on our own. Well, some of us anyway," Piricus shot back impatiently. Apparently, he wasn't going to afford this mercenary any more respect than the ones previous to her.

Xialah raised a maroon-colored eyebrow. "Such a quick comeback," she replied in a falsely sweet voice. "You've got some manner of intelligence. And a spine. Well that's good, because it's the first I've seen from this group. Listen up, all of you; I'm only going to make these announcements once! Follow me at ALL times if you don't want to get hopelessly lost. And make no mistake, if you stray from the group and/or get lost I'm NOT going to come looking for you. There's not enough gold in the world to send me through this hell-hole playing hero. When demons attack us, and trust me they will, you will follow MY lead when dealing with them. I know them, I know what they're capable of, and therefore I have the quickest way of killing them. We will take MY paths and mine only; I won't tolerate anybody trying to co-navigate. And last, but certainly not least, I've been paid only as a guide. Remember that part well. I don't have a contract or an obligation to save anybody's life or fight alongside you if I don't feel like it. You are not my friends, and to be honest, you're a pretty sad-looking clientele. While you're out here, I'm God, understand?" she asserted as she looked around at each of us in turn.

"You're positively a ray of sunshine," Vendra snickered after Xialah's speech.

"Never mind the fact that we're paying you. You could at least act like it and treat us with respect," Ryelass mumbled in contempt, not to say I could blame him.

"That costs extra," Xialah replied with a sarcastic grin.

Much to our surprise, Scorpious looked around at all of us and sighed deeply. The sigh was fatigued and frustrated. So was his curt reprimand to all of us. "We're wasting time and that's something we do not have. All of you be silent and let's proceed without delay. I'm not going to stand here another minute listening to idle words. We have a guide. That's what we needed. Xialah please lead on straightaway, we understand your conditions," he assured, though his reply to her was like it was to us, half-polite at best.

Ryelass opened his mouth to say something and Scorpious shot him a glare that silenced him immediately due to the uncharacteristic sharpness. "I said move it," he repeated sternly. "If you don't want to do so quietly then stay here. I'm done with this foolishness and I'm leaving right now," he finished curtly, leaving everybody, including Piricus speechless. He turned to Xialah, whom was smirking in amusement.

"This way," she declared, parting a curtain of vines in front of herself. "And the preacher here is right. Shut the hell up or you won't get more than three feet without something nasty taking notice," she informed before she disappeared into the darkness beyond the vines.

Scorpious said nothing, but followed her immediately, drawing his broadsword as he moved into the jungle.

"Somebody's more than a little cranky," Vendra observed in a muted voice as she watched Scorpious go.

"This worry me," Sovellis remarked in concern. "Something wrong with him."

"He's a human being. They get pissed off," Laurella snorted briskly. "It's a natural occurrence and he's got a right to be angry. With the way he was so calm about everything, I was beginning to think he wasn't human. I also think it's about damn time he stops putting up with everybody's garbage. Either go first or move aside," Laurella chirped to the pair of magi as she shoved past them into the darkness.

Vendra scowled in the dim light before she and Sovellis followed behind her. "She's really getting on my nerves."

Cloudyous sent Gaia through the gap first and then the two wolves. Bibo was perched on his shoulder, but flapped her wings restlessly. Cloudyous looked to her and shook his head. He made a few muffled bird sounds, and she stilled. With her passively riding on his arm, he disappeared behind the trees.

One by one we followed through the cramped space Xialah had provided, into the dank and eerie jungle beyond. I didn't like the fact we were in the dark at all. I couldn't see the nose at the end of my face, much less anybody or anything else around me. To top it all off, a sickly feeling of foreboding was creeping through the hairs on my neck, spending pinpricks down my spine. The entire place should have been alive with natural noises: wind, rustling vegetation, scampering wildlife, the calls of night birds, or rainwater dripping through the leaves. All of it was absent, and in their place, every movement we made echoed loudly.

I had no idea how we were able to keep moving without tripping into each other, nobody was carrying any source of light. I reached out subtly with my mind, not enough to cause the usual extensions of light, but enough that I could acutely sense the life forces immediately around me. I could distinctly make out Vendra and Sovellis about ten feet in front of me. Ryelass was in front of them and Alminus was beside him. Gaia the Grizzly was walking off to the right of me while Sky and Belthem walked on the left with Cloudyous in the middle and directly in front of me. I could feel the others ahead of me somewhere but I didn't have enough focus to make out their particular energy. Piricus was directly behind me, and oddly, his was the energy I could feel the strongest. He was more than ten feet away, which was more than enough space to diminish his aura. But the way my inner sight perceived him was like he was actually touching me.

Curious. Why in Sanctuary would I be able to feel him more than the others? Technically Gaia was the closest living entity to me, and Cloudyous wasn't more than four inches away from her. If anything, I should be feeling him the most. Was it my focus? I hadn't been aware of devoting any more attention than usual to Piricus. If anything, I'd been focused on Xialah and Ryelass. They'd both been irritating me. My mind momentarily returned to what Adria had told us in Lut Gholeign. There had been a connection between us before she severed it, and before that this odd shift in attention would have made logical sense. For the briefest of moments, I pondered the fact that such a connection might still exist. I dismissed the thought though. Adria was an extremely powerful arcanist. I'm sure she was more than able to remove something like that.

We continued walking in complete silence and in complete darkness for a long time. Using my inner sight I was able not to walk into Cloudyous' back, though once again, I had no idea how everyone else was managing not to trip and fall. Then, amidst the silence, came the subtle sounds of running water. The sounds were very soft and they were mostly constant, breaking only every few minutes. I knew from the sounds the water must be moving over a large log or the like, but I couldn't say for sure. The closer we moved, the more defined the aquatic sounds became until I realized we'd arrived at the junction of four slow-flowing streams.

Instead of walking in a line, our group gathered around in a cluster when Xialah paused at the mouth of the watery intersection. She knelt down and placed two fingers into the murk, apparently deciding something as she did so.

"This way," she informed, moving to the far right and breaking the silence for the first time in a while.

"How do you know?" Laurella asked her suspiciously and I had to admit, Xialah's actions had been rather weird.

"She observed the water currents," Cloudyous replied for her, with a small amount of surprise.

Xialah snorted, though it was more casual than anything. "Wow muskrat-man, you might actually know something useful out here. Yes, I felt the currents. But I wouldn't think about trying it on your own. They change daily and you'll get lost if you don't know the pattern like I do," she informed with simplicity.

"If I may, what causes the currents to shift? That's an odd thing to have happen in the middle of a jungle," Cloudyous questioned curiously.

"The minerals in the riverbed, don't you know anything? They're magnetic and they occasionally shift in polarity," she replied curtly. "Save the scholarly babble for a book, beaver-boy. We're back to hush hush," Xialah reminded as she resumed the lead.

Our procession moved slowly along the edge of the waterway and as we went, I started to notice a change in Belthem's attitude. I could hear him sniffing around strongly and after a few seconds, Sky joined in. Gaia walked over to them, apparently trying to discern something for herself. She inhaled through her wide nostrils and then promptly snorted the air back out. A low rumbled started in her throat as she walked over to the water's edge, peering down into what I guessed was waist-high water. I stopped to watch her, as Cloudyous already had minutes ago. Gaia must not have been satisfied with the look she took, she leaned closer to the edge of the water so that her nose was only about an inch over the surface.

Sky and Belthem growled in warning, mixing their misgivings with Cloudyous' simultaneous shout. He tried to say something to Gaia, and the Grizzly moved sharply backwards in recognition, but not before a gelatinous mass of vile-smelling goo came flying out from under the water and splattered all over her face. The grizzly roared in a combination of fury and pain, and wiped her massive paws over her muzzle and face frantically, trying to remove the acidic gunk.

Cloudyous rushed to her side and tried to calm her enough to view the damage. Bibo screeched loudly, sending an echoing cry through the treetops, as she launched herself off of Cloudyous' shoulder at the now rippling surface of the water. She dove talons-bared at the center of the disturbance and narrowly avoided a goo projectile the size of her body. She was forced to dodge around whatever her target had been before and circle back around. Another ripple five feet from the first signaled the arrival of another unseen attacker. Viscous slime started flying through the air, aimed at Bibo, and then at us.

"Wha' tha hell?" Alminus barked as a splatter of chunky fluid splashed into the handle of his axe and disintegrated the wood in seconds. Something dark came hurling out of the water with a high jump and landed directly beside him with a loud plop. The sound was wet, slimy, and followed closely by an obnoxiously loud and demonic '_Ribbit'_.

"Enough of this! I can't see a damn thing!" Laurella hissed and in an instant, her blue-white inner sight gave shape to our foes.

"Ya've got ter be kiddin' me," Alminus scoffed in disbelief as the creature lunged at him, extending a long, tapering, and barbed tongue.

I blinked too. The thing attacking him was literally a demonic, overgrown frog. The creature was the size of Belthem, making it easily the largest frog I'd ever seen. It was inky black in color, and mottled with dingy yellow splotches. As far as appearances, everything seemed natural, except the rigid and oversized fins that protruded vertically from its back and elbow joints. The tips of the fins were barbed, much like its tongue and judging by the way they dripped yellow ooze, they were also venomous. Alminus barely managed to dodge the snaking tongue aimed for his leg, being that he was so big. It was a felicitous turn of events for him; the demon's injecting tongue stabbed into a tree behind him and dissolved a head-sized hole in the wood. Discontented with the miss, the hellish amphibian croaked, giving out a sound that was more akin to a banging drum than anything I'd ever heard from an animal. It was too deep to be natural and extremely disconcerting to hear.

I was forced to seek cover behind my own tree as three globules of frog spittle converged for my face. The demon spit-wads blobbed together and melted the base of the tree I was using for cover. I had precisely one second to find a new space before the severed tree fell violently into a cluster of other trees behind me.

"Okay tour guide!" Vendra yelled out in irritation from where she and Sovellis were seeking cover behind a large rock, "How do we get rid of these quickly?"

Xialah launched two spires of ice at the nearest frog, not aimed for any particular point on its body. The first frosty projectile vaporized as it passed through a slime ball and the second melted upon contact with the monster's skin.

"Hmm. I'm going to say trial and error," Xialah called back sarcastically, "Seeing as these little freaks are completely new to me. I've never seen them before and I don't think anyone else has either!"

"You're a lot of help," Laurella growled sourly as she dispatched a flaming arrow at the eye of a demon frog. Much to our collective surprise, the frog opened its mouth and swallowed the fiery missile whole. It didn't seem to suffer so much as a scratch as it crunched the object in its mouth and spit the splintered wooden shaft and metal arrowhead back onto the ground. The fire, I noticed with shock, had mixed with the frog's poisonous secretions inside its mouth.

Ryelass was standing the closest to Laurella and he hastily tackled her to the ground in the nick of time. The demonic amphibian retaliated against her by spewing a burning ball of venom. Apparently, she'd just given it fire-breath and made it twice as dangerous.

Laurella scowled from the ground and shoved at Ryelass bitterly. "Get off me!" she hissed. "I didn't need your help!"  
"You'd be dead right now!" Ryelass countered with his own cross emotions as the frog lined up for another flaming belch. The two of them were too preoccupied with bickering to notice a second frog had strayed away from the wanton attacks on everyone else and was pinning them down against the fire-breathing one.

Scorpious moved in beside both of them with an icy reprimand. "Stop this both of you!" he growled angrily, "before you get yourselves killed. You're wasting time and I won't tolerate this absolutely ridiculous conflict to endanger us any longer!"

With inner venom of his own, Scorpious cast the fire-banishing aura from earlier and wrapped it around the three of them. The flaming spit-wad immediately lost its kindling upon contact with Scorpious' aura and in a dizzying blink, the holy man switched auras into a detoxifying green one. Both the extinguished poison ball and the other coming at them from behind filtered through Scorpious' aura and became nothing more than foul-smelling goo. A sizeable quantity of some dusty yellow substance fell at their feet just outside the reach of their auras, but clear, viscous slime plastered all over the three of them in a disgusting display.

Scorpious flung the thick, dripping filth off of his gauntlets by giving each arm a vigorous shake and turned to the pair behind him, whom where both seething at his interruption. For a brief moment, I wondered if Ryelass and Scorpious were going to get into another fight; the look in Ryelass' eyes was murder and Laurella wasn't much happier.

"Laurella, go stand over there by Vendra and Sovellis. Provide cover for us without using fire. Ryelass, go help Alminus, he needs you," Scorpious commanded, half-glowering at the two. I don't know what stunned me more. What Scorpious said, or what came next. When Ryelass tried to retort, Scorpious rounded on him harshly.

"Don't argue with me, you're already trying my patience! This is childish and seeing as I just saved you both, you ought to be grateful! In case you haven't noticed, we're in the middle of a battle! NOW GO!" he insisted, bellowing the last part. A golden aura radiated around the edges of his armor for a brief moment, carrying with it an unmistakable force. It was a subtle display, but an effective one. Both Ryelass and Laurella watched his aura wearily and there was no question they wanted nothing more to do with it. Both of them parted with a begrudging look at the other and hastily moved to do what Scorpious had demanded.

I was stunned, and so was everyone else. Piricus raised an eyebrow as he eyed Scorpious from ten feet away and I could have sworn he was highly amused with the situation, given the smirk on his face. Even the demon frogs gave us a momentary pause from their assaults to ogle him oddly. It was as if, somehow, even they realized how out-of-character this was for our paladin friend.

"Cloudyous," Scorpious barked, calling out for the surprised druid five feet away.

"Yes?" he answered uncertainly, pausing in his attempts to flush Gaia's eyes with a vial of some unknown liquid. He'd managed to calm the enormous bear down, but she was still huffing angrily at his side and irritably licking her muzzle trying to get at her goo-splattered eyes. I guess when the battle started he hadn't been paying much attention to anything else.

"Give us your expert opinion on these aquatic abominations so we can finish them off quickly," Scorpious finished eyeing the demons with malice as he kicked a globule of frothy spit off of his left greave.

"Ice doesn't work, fire doesn't work…" Vendra muttered in frustration as lightning rippled across her hands.

"Well," Sovellis began comically as the four demon frogs forgot their momentary fascination with Scorpious and started after us again. "I think safe to say, you kiss, you no get prince!"

Vendra actually snorted with genuine laughter, making her the target of the frog closest to us. She immediately abandoned any previous humor when a spit ball disintegrated the trailing of her left sleeve.

"You little bastard," Vendra hissed at the monster as if it could understand. "I thought I told you already Sovellis," she countered as she dispatched her electrical spell, "I've always thought frogs were gross!"

Scorpious chanted something and his purifying green aura enveloped all of us, including Gaia and the wolves. His holy magic started to sooth the aggravated beast and I could tell it was cleansing the poison from her eyes. Scorpious gestured impatiently to Cloudyous to join him, and the druid turned to me.

"Chyemme, if you don't mind," Cloudyous insisted hurriedly, handing me the vial of blue liquid before I could protest. "Just use the cloth there and continue to blot her eyes," he requested as he stepped away.

I eyed the gargantuan, grouchy bear wearily and looked at the blue vial in my hands with a very distinct hesitation. I had no special bond with Gaia the Grizzly and the last time she and I had a close encounter without Cloudyous, she'd tried to kill me. I had absolutely no trust that she wouldn't attack me and I didn't think Cloudyous had the time to tell her anything in bear language about me helping her.

Piricus actually laughed from behind me as he watched. "Fate truly wants you to lose your arm today amazon," he snickered. "First the demons and now, the bear. You're not actually going to go through with that are you?" he asked skeptically as I stepped toward the animal.

I slowly and cautiously took one step at a time towards Gaia, talking to her as if she could understand, before I answered Piricus.

"I'm not a coward and she's technically one of our allies," I protested. "Maybe she knows I'm trying to help her." By this time I was about four feet from her. The grizzly growled menacingly as she turned her head in my direction, causing me to pause. She sniffed the air and then snarled, displaying her eight inch fangs.

"Somehow," Piricus said sarcastically as he flung a poisonous bolt of his own at a frog that had turned its attentions toward us, "I doubt the druid said anything at all. I wouldn't trust that thing not to eat you, amazon. And while bone armor is superior, it won't stop a bear."

I felt a small smile cross my lips, despite the taunting tone in his voice and the circumstances around us. "You say that like you actually care," I commented casually, resuming my walk toward Gaia.

I think Piricus might have answered me, except the frog he'd just aimed at decided it wanted a crack at him more so than anyone else. It diverted from the others and started hopping toward us in five-foot strides.

"Deal with that for me, would you?" I teased lightly as I watched his bitter expression. "It's just a frog."

An expression composed of both sour sarcasm and actual amusement crossed his face for a brief second. "Knowing my Trag 'Oul forsaken luck, these blasted beasts probably have a second head and nine lives," he grumbled before facing his enemy.

"That's a cat," I reminded playfully, but immediately hushed as Gaia gave me a stark growl. I didn't need to be a genius to figure out Gaia wasn't playing with me; the gestures she used were candid threats. I took one more step and she roared loudly, daring me to approach. I stopped instantly; to continue any further would be folly. I had absolutely no idea why Cloudyous would ask me to do this, considering that the huge grizzly wasn't inclined to allow a stranger into her space and Scorpious' aura seemed to be doing a good enough job in purging the toxins from her eyes to start with.

I heard Piricus curse from behind me and I turned around sharply to make sure he was alright. A demon frog had snaked its tongue around his left arm and plunged two of the barbs through his robes and the underlying bone bracers into his wrist. The breath caught in my throat as the ebony fabric and ivory bones around his ensnared hand disintegrated, eaten away by the frog's corrosive venom. I caught a glimpse of Piricus' pale flesh and smelled the blood as it began to pour out of the wound. My heart skipped a beat frantically when I realized one of the barbs had sliced a major blood vessel. Even worse, that thing was now injecting venom directly into his bloodstream with the second barb in his forearm. Piricus stumbled backwards and almost fell before the frog retracted its tongue, pulling him sharply forwards with it.

I abandoned Gaia completely, dropping the vial of what must have been antivenin on the ground without a second thought. Turning my back to the enormous, agitated bear, I raced to the edge of the water where the demon frog was submersing itself and attempting to pull Piricus in after it. I grabbed my sword, seeing that it was the closest weapon on hand and sliced downward violently, trying to sever the monster's tongue and alleviate the pressure on Piricus' hand. To my utter dismay, a small, semi-circle dissolved in the crystal blade upon impact. I immediately abandoned its use, knowing full well I wouldn't have a weapon if I continued.

Seeing my attempt to help him, the demon frog holding Piricus croaked angrily and lurched strongly backwards, yanking him through two feet of water and onto his knees in the stream. Piricus winced as he wrapped his hand around the creature's tongue and hissed at me nastily.

"I don't need your help," he snarled at me through gritted teeth as the creature tried once more to drag him into deeper water. Being on his knees, he had a better base to resist and didn't move more than an inch. A deadly green light pulsated out of Piricus' skin and traveled up the entire length of the hellish amphibian's tongue, eating away at the slimy flesh. I thought for sure the monster would release him, or at the very least Piricus would be able to pull free after its tongue dissolved, but the opposite became true. After a few initial seconds of decay, the creature's sickly saliva flushed down the length of its tongue and rejuvenated the injured flesh. Yellow venom oozed from the closing wounds and then washed down an open groove in the creature's tongue and onto Piricus' injury.

My concern only intensified when I realized that Piricus' already near-white skin was starting to blanch into the color of marble. He was losing a lot of blood and the venom must have also been taking affect. I could see the strain in his arms as he tried to pry the creature loose in conjunction with a curse he uttered, probably to meant to weaken it.

I had to think of something fast. First things first, I needed to get Piricus some sort of potion, and I thought I had something to staunch bleeding in my pouch. I blindly groped around in the leather satchel feeling for a glass vial, and cursed when I only came up with a few half-crushed, drenched Felph flowers. I'd used most of them before now, but I guess I must have had a few remnants in my pouch. Basically, I came up with nothing. I didn't see how a few flower petals would be of any assistance in this instance. Someone yelled my name, bringing my attention to a frog that was bounding onto the riverbank after me. It must have noticed that I left myself vulnerable and had chosen to come after me in my preoccupied state. Alminus was chasing it down, but he wasn't able to even land a single strike on it before it sprang into the air, getting away from him. I twisted to the side as the creature landed in the water next to me with a powerful splash. I ended up directly next to the thing when I pivoted, out of the reach of its snapping mouth. It turned its head to bite at me, but I went with the motion and stepped backwards, keeping the distance between us.

In an awkward movement the frog swept one of its limbs sideways, aiming to impale me on one of the spiny tips of its fins. I didn't have the momentum to dodge it sideways, its mouth was in front of me, the water made it difficult to move backwards quickly, and I couldn't roll over top of it with such a pronounced fin on its back. The only safe decision I could make was to grab onto the creature's dorsal fin and hold on against its side. I timed my movement as best I could, and then jumped out of the shin-deep water, grabbing one of the ridges on its back. Every surface of this creature was covered in slick mucus including the webbing on its back and the ridges between. Failing to find any solid support by grabbing its fin, my entire body slid dangerously sideways as the monster continued to turn. I quickly flung my foot under its belly and lifted up, pinning myself into place with the pressure. However, the momentum was still haphazard at best, and it was becoming increasingly difficult to stabilize myself before I accidentally slid into a poisonous spike. I used my free hand containing the mangled pieces of Felph flowers to try and obtain a better hold on the demon frog, which began to buck wildly upon my touch. I was forcibly shifted first to the left and then to the right as it moved violently, causing my free hand to flail in both directions across its skin.

Pink plant juices from the now destroyed flowers in my palm smeared the side of the frog's body, giving off a subtle odor that was reminiscent of burning coal. Being that even a slight whiff of Felph essence was enough to make me dizzy, I didn't have any other choice but to let go of the creature. I would have to take my chances maneuvering around it in the water, I couldn't risk any further exposure to the toxic Amazonian flowers or I might pass out entirely. I released my hold and fell at an odd angle into the dark water below the frog. The monster thrashed wildly in retaliation; however it missed me by several feet. I watched in astonishment as it continued to flail in several different directions at once and then go into convulsions before falling into the water dead, a few feet shy of me. Not understanding entirely what had happened, I scanned the frog quickly with my eyes. Strangely, the rose-hued Felph juice was nowhere to be seen upon its body.

I may not have known what this meant, but apparently Piricus must have. He lunged through the water aiming to grab hold of the frog that was attacking him. A new energy, one colored between green and blue danced over both of his hands as he plunged the tips of his blanched fingers brutally through the monster's skin. Almost like Piricus' enchanted fingers were made of steel and not flesh, demon blood poured from the wounds, mixing in with his own human blood. The energy Piricus was using seemed to only be effective at surface level. Unlike other magic I'd seen him use which decayed underlying tissue and bone, this new blend started to spread like an illuminated spider-web under the surface of the frog's skin. The absorption was rapid, and in a few moments, the entire frog was glowing like a firefly. All the monster could do was croak in protest as paralysis set in. The creature must have died standing because after another second it didn't move anymore and Laurella's inner sight faded from it, signaling the departure of its life essence.

Piricus savagely yanked his hand from the creature's carcass, flinging demon blood combined with his own into the water. The powerful magic pulsating around his hand illuminated the pouring scarlet blood from his wrist as it fell into the water. His blood continued to glimmer with energy even as it washed downstream, causing the waterway to glitter with strands of emerald green adorned with an occasional shimmer of blue. Piricus nastily threw three bolts of energy that whizzed around me heading towards the three remaining frogs that were giving the others trouble. His magic quickly toppled two of the demons, and surprisingly, the third was already dead by the time the bolt reached it.

The third demon had lunged for Xialah and out of nowhere a whip-like vine with several distinct barbs impaled and ensnared it mid-jump. Whatever venom Cloudyous' vine held, the frog was very susceptible to it, because it was dead in seconds. I saw Cloudyous as he took a step forward and tried to say something to her, but like the rude bitch she was, Xialah turned away from him sharply, smacking him in the face with her hair.

"Now that that's over with let's get a move on people!" she yelled apathetically, not even taking a moment to assess injuries or even take a head count before she started forward again.

Speaking of which, ignoring her completely, I immediately turned to Piricus. He staggered as he stepped toward me and I moved to catch him, knowing he was about to fall over. He looked terrible. As fair as his normal complexion was, his skin had turned the color of snow. To make matters worse, I could see traces of yellow demon venom under his skin and around the deep puncture wounds.

He ended up shoving me roughly aside with his shoulder. "Don't touch me," he insisted grouchily.

"Piricus, you need an antivenin. I think that frog's toxin had an anticoagulant in it," I protested seriously, eyeing the steadily flowing wound. "Either that," I admitted grimly, "or it hit an artery."

Piricus glowered at me sourly for a moment and then straightened himself up. A subtle wave of lime green arcane flowed over his white skin and as it did so, I could see globules of something bubbling up just under the surface. The bubbles became pronounced and then traveled down his arm like some unseen parasite. It was a disgusting sight to see as the pockets of unseen substance rolled under Piricus' skin until they arrived at the injuries in his wrist. He turned his hand over and a foul-smelling, potent combination of blood and globs of poison fell into the water. He gave his wrist a shake after a few moments of expelling large splatters of venomous gunk with the same, lime-colored magic. He turned his hand over and flexed it as the energy died away and I saw it again, clearly this time. He definitely had a tattoo there.

I don't know what possessed me, but I invaded his personal space and grabbed his hand in my own. I turned his hand over quickly, being mindful of the wounds on his wrist. His upturned palm clearly revealed the ebony mark upon his glowing skin.

"I'm not seeing things again, am I?" I asked him sarcastically as we locked eyes.

Piricus yanked his wrist away from me roughly, pushing me backwards in the process. His eyes narrowed dangerously and so did his voice.

"If you know what's good for you," he growled tensely, "You'll pretend you didn't see that and _never_ ask about it again."

I knew I should have been intimidated, but as always, I wasn't. If anything, I was suddenly very curious over not only the meaning of the occasionally appearing mark, but also his defensiveness over it.

"Why hide it?" I asked, refusing to be denied.

Piricus turned his back to me coldly and stormed away without answering me as he held his fists clenched at his sides. I could feel the dangerous vibe he was giving off; he really didn't want me to pursue this any further. I decided to let the matter drop for the moment. I didn't think this was a good place to talk about personal secrets anyway, and the others were already moving a fair way ahead of us.

I saw Cloudyous walk our way from the back of the group, prompting my mind back to Gaia. The grizzly walked calmly past us, toward my druid friend. From the manner of her approach, I'd say Scorpious' aura had done more to help her eyes than I could have. Still, I decided to ask as Cloudyous briefly inspected her muzzle and the intense tear-staining around the animal's eyes.

"She's okay, isn't she?" I asked. "I didn't exactly have time to do what you asked me. I'm sorry."

Cloudyous answered me without looking up. He placed a thumb under Gaia's eyelid, lifting it so he could better inspect her irritated orb.

"It appears so. In retrospect, it's probably for the best you didn't actually try to flush her eyes and I shouldn't have asked anyway. Gaia's still a bit unstable around humans. I heard the way she was speaking about you, and I have to apologize. I was in a hurry and I guess I just assumed that since you get along so well with Sky and Belthem that Gaia would let you assist her too. I'm glad Scorpious' aura was able to pull through, that frog venom was some nasty business," he offered apologetically.

"What was it that killed the demons?" I asked, keenly interested in the answer should those menaces attack again. "I think it had something to do with the Felph flowers I touched it with."

Cloudyous gave Gaia's side a reaffirming pat and then turned to me. "I was wondering what you hit it with," he answered in earnest. "That makes sense. Well, you see Chyemme, frog skin is extremely spongy in the fact that it will absorb certain substances through its surface. The toxins from the Felph flowers were absorbed through its skin membranes and spread over the subcutaneous layers beneath. From there, they filter into the bloodstream and consequently, the rest of the body. For once, something in nature is still acting as it should. These things must be a new corruption, because their bodies still maintain almost all the key aspects of their original biology," he explained.

"I see," I replied simply. "But why then didn't your spell work the first time, Piricus?" I asked him from where he walked in front of us. I knew that he was also discreetly listening to Cloudyous' information.

"Because I didn't hit it in a skin layer," Piricus grumbled crossly. "That thing's tongue was encased in protective toxins."

Cloudyous nodded from beside me. "It needed to be the outer layers of skin."

"Well, at least now we know for future reference," I affirmed.


	8. Chapter 8

AN: As promised and on schedule part 2 of 2 =)

Disclaimer: I do not own Diablo or Diablo 2. All copyrights are still in effect and property of Blizzard Entertainment. No money is being made, I'm just having way too much fun playing around in their world!

**WARNING: The following chapter contains some extreme GORE and scenes of torture towards the end. This fic is rated M for a reason. The material contained herein is NOT suitable for younger readers and I urge everybody to use your best discretion when reading.**

Boiling Daggers

Chyemme

"What part of you need to be silent don't you get back there blondie?" Xialah spat obnoxiously from two feet in front of me. I growled in distain. The rest of the group had gathered around something on the riverbank and I'd almost walked directly into the mercenary's back while I was distracted.

"Just stuff it and do your job," I hissed at her with loathing.

Vendra snorted from beside me. "Wow…I'm sensing a little tension here," she added lightly.

"Why'd we stop?" I demanded, starting to become increasingly irritated.

"If you'd have been paying attention snail-legs you'd already know," Xialah retorted before she pushed me starkly backwards. "Move! You're standing on the rope!"

I regained myself instantly, every inch of me twitching with agitation as I looked down. There was some sort of log raft in front of us and I'd been standing on its mooring line sure enough. That still didn't justify her pushing me. I was about to tell her so when Scorpious distracted me with a more pertinent question.

"Chyemme, Piricus, were either of you injured?" he asked routinely.

I checked myself over briefly before answering. "I'm not. Piricus might need you to-" I was quickly rebuked by a harsh hiss and a painful stomp on my toes.

"I have never and will never require the paladin's assistance. Let's keep this circus moving imbeciles, I think my boots might actually be growing mold while I stand here," he asserted nastily as he covered his injured wrist from view with his other hand. To my relief, the bleeding had stopped once he purged the venom; however he still seemed significantly weaker and was still uncharacteristically pale.

Scorpious didn't even attempt a second offer. "Very well. Everyone onto the raft," he insisted plainly.

"I don't like the looks of this," Ryelass protested as he eyed the raft in the jungle darkness. "Can all of us fit onto that thing and still be able to maneuver if something happens?" he asked dubiously.

"Not ter mention if it kin hold alla' us," Alminus added, looking down himself.

Xialah snorted as she eyed the pair of them. "This thing can hold twenty fully-armored Iron Wolves so of course it can hold all of us. Do you honestly think I'd get onto this thing if I thought it was going to sink?" She retorted sarcastically.

"I don't know. If all the Iron Wolves wear the same amount of armor you do I'm having second thoughts already," I found myself replying rudely.

"That not mention there probably no twenty of you when all gather," Sovellis added both with humor and his own reservations.

"Oh, so we have a lot of jokesters here, do we?" Xialah snapped peevishly. "Well this raft is the only way we are going anywhere so get on or go back," she commanded as she stepped aboard and seated herself at the front of the slowly bobbing craft.

"We can all fit on here properly if we organize. To minimize the chance of capsizing we need to distribute the weight evenly. That means Alminus and Gaia will need to sit on opposite ends. Cloudyous will need to sit with Gaia to keep her calm and likely your wolves will sit near you as well," Scorpious advised. "Therefore to balance them Laurella and Vendra will need to sit near Alminus. Bibo shouldn't make any difference since she weighs next to nothing. Piricus, since you're wearing roughly the same weight in armor as Cloudyous with his furs, sit next to Vendra and Laurella. Sovellis sit up front across from him. Ryelass and I have the heaviest weighted armor so we'll balance each other out if I sit in front and he sits in the back next to Chyemme, who'll be in the middle," Scorpious proposed, calculating each of us respectively.

I felt a grain of irritation in my subconscious as my mind registered his plan. It was logical and practical, but it meant I'd be in close proximity to Ryelass. I exhaled a displeased breath when Laurella shot me an icy glare. I glowered back, willing every ounce of body language to proclaim that I had nothing to do with this current arrangement and I was just as ill-tempered over it as she was. Given the choice, I'd have been sitting next to Piricus and if that wasn't possible, I definitely wouldn't have opted to be crammed into the middle of the raft like a sardine.

"Scorpious are you sure that's such a good idea?" Vendra asked scathingly as she eyed Piricus. "I might be tempted to push him in."

"Don't look at me," Laurella insisted coldly when Vendra turned to her. "I don't particularly want him near me either. He smells like dead frogs," she growled.

"Why don't you draw straws?" Ryelass suggested snidely, aimed directly at Laurella.

Her cheeks puffed with air and I knew she was struggling to keep from whatever reply was on her tongue.

"Enough," Scorpious insisted irritably as Cloudyous herded his entourage to one side of the raft and Almnius carefully made his way to the other. Laurella continued to eye everyone around her with contempt, especially Ryelass as it came time for her to fill her position.

"Get a move on," Scorpious demanded once more as he watched the childish display. "I shouldn't have to remind you someone's life is on the line!"

Laurella turned her irate glare toward him for a brief moment, and then a petulant smile spread over her mouth. "Whatever you say, Commander. Come on then. Truth be told, frog smell or no, I'd much rather sit next to you anyway. Anyone is better than Ryelass," she scoffed at the warrior as she looped her arm around Piricus' left elbow.

If my jaw wasn't attached, it would have come off. I was stunned by her behavior, and so was everyone else, including Piricus. Three things shocked me enough to the point of coughing. One, she'd just sassed Scorpious, two she'd just blatantly insulted Ryelass, and third and most shocking of all, she'd just casually entered into Piricus' personal space and grabbed a hold of him.

Piricus had been completely taken off guard and surprisingly he hadn't blasted the little whelp off of himself. His reaction was interesting to say the least. I think he'd been so stunned he'd actually frozen in place a moment. When he regained himself, he scowled nastily, grabbed two of Laurella's fingers and jerked them sharply backwards, pulling her hand and her body in that direction. He then roughly tossed her the opposite direction and onto the raft with an unsteady impact. The craft flopped dangerously out of the water on one side, threatening to crack with the newly introduced pressure.

Laurella landed on her hands, scrapping the palms of them, and then sprang onto her feet angrily. She opened her mouth to yell, but was silenced by Piricus' icy voice.

"Sorceress," he started with a dangerous calm in his tone, "I suggest that if you value the little girl's life, you'll conveniently decide to place yourself beside her and I'll sit on the edge."

Vendra looked between the two of them and I think that she knew, as I did, he was serious in what he said and was about to blast someone. For once, she didn't sass him in reply. She looked at Laurella and shook her head with a heavy sigh when she climbed onto the raft beside her.

"Remember this, will you, the next time you start acting like a brat," she mumbled to Laurella as she sat down.

Piricus stiffly moved onto the raft behind them, tripping slightly when he stepped onto its surface. It was a subtle movement, one that I'm sure only he and I noticed, judging by the furtive, but furious glance he shot me from the corner of his eye. He plopped down nonchalantly on the very edge of the raft, and as he did so, my inner sight, or maybe just my knowledge of his character, told me he was still trying intently to recover from his recent battle. The color was starting to flow back into his neck and under his jaw but his face remained peaky and I knew he was struggling to recoup his energy.

One by one we filed onto the rocking raft, which depressed several inches into the water with the weight. In all honesty, I was surprised that we didn't sink. I did the best I could to settle into the foot of space I'd been issued without brushing into anyone else, especially Ryelass. Failing to find adequate space to sit down, I remained standing, doing my best to feel the motion of the raft under my feet and not fall over. I glared at Xialah spitefully when she passed a four-foot wooden paddle toward Alminus, which almost hit me in the forehead.

"Make yourself useful, and follow my lead," she insisted to my barbarian friend as she took up a paddle herself in the front of the boat.

Alminus shrugged but did as he was asked. "Alrigh'. Which way r' we goin' first?"

Xialah pointed directly in front of herself with a punctuated movement. "Straight and just go straight until I tell you to stop," she insisted. "I'd sit down people. Especially you, blondie. You need a bath for sure, but if you fall in we'll lose our nice, even balance," the haughty mercenary added, eyeing me where I stood.

"What was it that you said about this thing holding twenty people without a problem?" I growled at her. "Because I certainly don't see a place to stand, much less sit."

"Here," Ryelass offered, shifting himself backwards so that his back was pressing against Vendra's foot. "Sit next to me."

I tried not to scowl; after all, he was being practical, but I still didn't like the fact that he was the one trying to accommodate me. I inched to the right as the raft shot down the stream, propelled by a surprisingly strong current.

The unexpected turbulence caused my right foot to slip and catch in a groove between two of the raft's panels. I had zero space to do anything but ride the fall to the floor and to my extreme displeasure I landed on my side, directly in Ryelass' arms. Having an impeccable sense of timing and being fast, Ryelass caught me as I fell, though I could tell with the weight of my body and my armor, it had been slightly difficult for him. Nevertheless he gave me a charming smile.

"Watch your feet," he chuckled softly as I struggled to get out of this awkward position.

"Blondie you've got to be the most uncoordinated person I've ever met. And no one wants to see you and your boyfriend making out back there. When I said sit down, I meant by yourself!" Xialah snorted without turning around.

"He's not my—"I hissed, feeling anger and embarrassment flush onto my face at the same time. I took a deep breath to calm myself, and then quickly settled into the small, but open space I had originally intended to occupy.

"Why is it when you fall, there's always someone there to catch you?" Laurella pointed out sourly from where she sat seething beside Vendra.

"I guess I'm just lucky that way," I shot back at her hotly. My mind simmered with agitation for the next several moments as Ryelass, Laurella, and Vendra all continued to stare at me like I was some sort of festival attraction. Ryelass, I knew must have been delighted over what happened, Laurella was infuriated, and Vendra was smirking with hardy amusement.

I chose to look at something else, or rather someone else. Piricus was watching me and the spectacle that'd just happened with a removed air. The sharpness had gone out of his emerald orbs; they were no longer alight with green spite and exhaustion was present in its place. It occurred to me more and more, the longer I sat still, just how tired I really was. Piricus hadn't managed any more sleep than I did, judging by the dull glimmer that stirred periodically in his eyes. I could tell he was having trouble staying awake by the way his eyelids half-closed every couple of minutes. I'm sure the dramatic loss of blood was also a large contributing factor. I was astonished he'd been able to purge such a distinct amount of poison with such little effort, however removing the venom had done nothing to heal his injuries or replace the blood or life energy he'd lost. He frowned as he noticed my attentions and the moment my eyes met his, he wordlessly shifted his gaze ahead of us to where Xialah was steering.

I wasn't the only one to take notice of Piricus' unusual decline in energy. Scorpious gave him a questioning glance from the corner of his eyes. I could tell that the holy man was debating something in his mind, unspoken to the rest of us.

Sovellis took this particular moment to stretch his long arms overhead stiffly and then yawn.

Vendra rolled her eyes and gave Ryelass' back a stern press with her foot, prodding for even an inch more space if she could get it. "Don't start that, blockhead. You know yawns are contagious. Before you know it everyone else will be asleep," she teased him lightly, yawning herself as she observed him.

"I can no help it, feisty one. I tired, you tired too, and we connected, so it make worse," Sovellis protested with a fatigued, but sincere grin in the darkness.

A soft orange light sprung into being around each of us, pulsating like flickers of flame into our skins every few seconds fueled by a familiar spiritual power. For whatever reason, tired though I was, energy began to seep back into me and soothe my weary body. I knew what the energy was, but Xialah didn't. I watched in amusement when the she-wolf mercenary nearly dropped her paddle in the water, startled. As it was, she jumped about a foot off the raft from the unexpected sensation. I wanted desperately to watch her fall in the water, but I had to admit, that woman had some serious dexterity. She was able to combat whatever tension she had and return gracefully to the surface of the raft in one soft movement that barely rocked the craft despite the weight. She was almost as nimble as me and that was saying something.

She turned to us stiffly at first, but then quickly replaced her unease with her attitude. "What the hell was that?" she demanded, rounding on Scorpious. Apparently, she didn't need to be told from where her aura had come.

"Relax," Scorpious insisted in an even voice. "You're not being harmed. I'm sure as a mage you could already tell," he added with reassurance. He settled into a meditative position from where he sat and closed his eyes, even as Xialah continued to seethe at him.

"Why the hell didn't you say something first, moron? I thought we were under attack!" she continued crossly. "It's common courtesy to tell your allies you're about to work magic into their personal aura!" she spat.

"There's something you wouldn't know anything about," I snorted, thoroughly enjoying her irate reaction and Scorpious' usual, collected demeanor.

"Don't make me come back there," Xialah hissed at me irately. "It'll trample you like I did last time. And as for you," she furthered still storming at my paladin friend," don't ever do that again without my express permission, or something very unpleasant will happen I promise!"

"What's your problem?" Vendra asked her skeptically. "You don't strike me as an initiate and anyone above entry level would know enough about magic to know he's helping us."

"She's scared," Piricus announced plainly. "You rarely-remembering morons seem to conveniently forget that we're in zealot country. This merc's got some practical sense, seeing that she doesn't trust the paladin not turn into a demon any more than the ones before him."

Xialah sneered at Piricus. "I'm not _afraid_ of our mellowed tin can here. I'm not afraid of any of them," she countered blatantly. For some reason, I knew she was telling the truth. She wasn't afraid of Scorpious at all. Intrigued for the briefest of moments, I directed a twinge of my inner sight towards her mind. It was no more than a fraction of a spark. I certainly didn't want her to notice, being an arcane user, and all I was interested in was obtaining a tidbit of whatever her emotion was.

My probe for information returned an answer. Xialah wasn't scared or nervous, she was angry. Judging by the amount of emotion I received from such a brief inquiry, she wasn't experiencing a mild quality of it either. She was royally infuriated.

I thought my unseen poke into Xialah's emotions was going to bore me or in the worst case scenario give me cause to dislike her further. I never imagined that it would cause me to become more interested. Why in the world was she so enraged by someone trying to help her? Was she like Piricus in that she hated the paladins? Or was she also like Piricus in the aspect of just hating assistance from people in general? The latter of the two seemed the most likely, but somehow I intuitively knew there was more to it than that. She'd been rude to Cloudyous when he assisted her earlier, but she wasn't, from what I could tell, anywhere near as enraged as she was at this moment.

"Well blind anger towards a comrade is just as helpful," Ryelass declared with animosity as he watched her sour expression continue to linger.

"You've got absolutely no idea how their magic works? Do you, short-stop?" Xialah countered venomously, narrowing her eyes at him.

"Can't be all that complicated," he shot back, "if a tavern skank like you understands it."

I had to suppress an amused smirk when Xialah's nose wrinkled like an obtuse Amazionian squirrel-hound. The way it made the rest of her features scrunch up was definitely brought a strong comparison to mind, and those had to be some of the ugliest animals in Sanctuary.

"It would be a solid philosophy," Cloudyous remarked casually. "Know thy enemy."

Xialah turned her back to us flippantly as she continued to paddle down the stream. "I'd stake my life on saying that none of you save your scraggly dead-raiser back there and your resident reverend here know how their magic actually works."

Vendra gave a characteristically indignant snort upon hearing Xialah's claim but as the seconds passed by, no one refuted it.

"See there?" the she-wolf mercenary announced with arrogance.

"Well, since you know so much," Laurella growled at her, "why not enlighten us?"

"You didn't say please," Xialah taunted without turning around.

"And I won't," the young archer insisted bitterly. "Groveling would be beneath me. Especially when I could just go ahead and ask an actual paladin. Scorpious, care to elaborate on this matter?" she asked, directed at the meditating man.

Scorpious nodded. "I will. But only because this information serves a legitimate purpose toward protection out here," he consented.

"Wha' tha heck is tha' supposed ter mean?" Alminus asked in confusion.

"It means," Piricus answered coldly, "that the paladin's been keeping the secrets of his bumbling order until now because he hasn't wanted anyone to figure out how to disable his 'holy' falsehoods. It might be a little bit of a letdown for the followers of his insufferable religion to realize that 'God' isn't acting through them and putting something around you, but rather the paladins themselves are invading your personal energy and manipulating it with their own," he explained with a dark demeanor.

I could hear the strength coming back into his voice and the color of his skin was starting to recuperate, courtesy, I guess, of Scorpious' aura. For this I was glad, but I was positively shocked to hear Piricus' explanation for paladin powers. So was everyone else apparently.

"This be true, Scorpious?" Sovellis asked, intrigued.

"Don't lie paladin. It's one of your cardinal offenses," Piricus reminded him with a disdainful scowl after the holy man hesitated for a moment.

"I wouldn't. Not about this," Scorpious sighed reluctantly after hearing Piricus' dripping distaste. "As usual, Piricus, you tell things without regard for the finer details. Anything to make me look bad, it seems," he continued, still without moving from his stationary stance.

"You're just now figuring that out?" Piricus snorted with a sarcastic tone. "Good work, genius."

"Fair and balanced have never been Piricus' strong suits," Cloudyous admitted comically. "Let's hear your side of this, Scorpious," he encouraged.

Scorpious sighed heavily once more. "Piricus, has it ever occurred to you that using my own abilities and calling them God's would be highly hypocritical to my beliefs to begin with? Lying as you say is a deadly sin. Not to mention it would also be highly illogical. If I honestly did not _know_ that my power, meager though it is in the grand scheme of things, came from an outside source, would I really be going around saying God's responsible for them in the first place? Why should I not take glory in what you say are my own natural magics? If what's mine is mine, why should I not proudly pronounce that to the world and use them however I see fit? What point would exist in me giving credit to some 'imaginary' deity, when I could be raking in enormous prestige and power for myself? It would be a grotesque blasphemy according to my faith and my human nature. Did it also occur to you that I must have some substantial proof backing my beliefs? Otherwise I'd just think this was a load of propaganda like you," he countered, starting to fidget where he sat.

"Proof is subjective paladin and you're dodging the question," Piricus retorted.

"Well he does kind o' have a good point," Alminus admitted after hearing Scorpious' words. "It would be kind o' pointless."

"Not to mention dangerous," I added, giving my thoughts to the group. "That is considering what he went through during the crusades. Why the hell would anyone go through that willingly for something they didn't believe in?"

"So he didn't get put down with the common rabble that refused to submit," Piricus replied across me. "Paladin, I didn't cast a curse on your tongue. Why in the name of Trag 'Oul haven't you answered the question by now? Unless, of course, I've exposed the truth and you don't want to lie and cover it up," he insisted maliciously.

"Is it true that your auras manipulate our personal energies?" I asked Scorpious directly, cutting off any other senseless remarks from my traveling companions.

Scorpious opened his eyes to look around at all of us seriously. "The simple answer to that is yes. I will not deny that. That is how an aura must function if you think about it. I take an energy pattern that I know has a specific effect and channel it through my individual aura first. This is how auras are able to protect your entire body; they are mixed in with your life and mana currents, which are produced from every pore of your skin. Then I reach out with my charged energy and intertwine it with your personal auras. Hence, you're all granted an ability that you don't know how to use as long as I am committing an energy flow between us. Logically, when my energy leaves you, so does the aura. That's a physical explanation for what happens and true, it's is easy enough to understand," Scorpious educated as most of us listened intently. Xialah and Piricus seemed to be bored by these revelations and weren't paying much attention.

"So theoretically, any mage in Sanctuary that knows energy manipulation and these particular spells could do what you do?" Ryelass suggested.

Scorpious shook his head and a small smile crossed his lips. "That would be the case if everything depended solely on arcane knowledge and principle. Here is where we get into the deeper facts of the matter, the more complex ones that are sadly overlooked by non-believers. There has never been a single mage in history that can do what I do as a paladin. Can you dispute this, Vendra or Sovellis?" he inquired of the magi pair.

"I've never heard of it happening," Vendra confessed.

"No me either," Sovellis affirmed.

"And that is because it takes an enormous amount of energy to continuously alter anything metaphysical and especially when those manipulations are shielding mechanisms like I occasionally use. If you think about the beatings that those shields take, even from weaker demons, that alone should be enough to expend all the energy from a single individual shielding themselves, much less an entire group. Before you ask, Ryelass, I know that there are exceptional people in this world with vast amounts of magical energy, but even they can't create or sustain an aura. The energy expenditure would render them dead in minutes I suspect. Don't you agree?" Scorpious furthered at Vendra and Sovellis.

"I do. It take much, much energy to even protect self. Most powerful mages only do for short time against many demons. Protecting group like this, can no be done for more than brief instant before mage die," he agreed.

"And we all know what happens when a mage uses all of their spiritual energy," Vendra muttered darkly, reminiscing, I knew, about Lut Gholeign.

"So what you're saying is that your power comes from somewhere else; fueling an aura with your own energy would kill you. That would have to be the case since you're still here with us," I concluded.

Scorpious nodded. "Yes. It would be impossible for me as a human being to shield ten people during a battle with my own personal energy. Aiding you like I am now just sitting here would have rendered me unconscious ten minutes ago."

"But you said that you use your energy to connect with ours," Laurella pointed out.

"Yes. That's true. I initiate the process with my own spiritual energy and then use my energy as a guide into all of yours. There is another complexity right there. I don't so much initiate as I do call out for the source of my energy—my God. I know what you must be thinking. Why is my personal touch even required if everything is coming from a deity to begin with? It's because every one of us here is a natural being from the plane of Sanctuary, including Cloudyous' animals. We all have natural, earthly energy. Your energies recognize my energy and therefore don't suffer any sort of dramatic reaction. I suspect if God were to touch us with his divine, astral energy directly, we'd likely explode from the contrast. On that note, this is another reason why simple mages can't use auras. As a paladin, I've been blessed by God to receive and distribute these divine energies without combusting. But back to my original point, this is also why people like Piricus, who don't believe me an inch on religious matters, are affected by my auras as well. I am an earth-dwelling being and so is he. Our energies do not clash violently against each other. My energy provides a connection into his and thus he's able to reap the benefits of my god-given auras without believing in God himself."

"Do your offensive auras work the same way?" Ryelass asked, intrigued.

"Mostly," Scorpious answered. "An aura that deals damage is still mostly defensive. The damage dealt out is in direct alignment with the person the aura is around. Generally an aura will discharge an attack against anything without an aura that gets too close, or anything that attacks us in general, but this is not always the case," he clarified. "Along with the intense spiritual power that fuels these auras, there is also a divine consciousness from what I've been able to discern. My auras are selective in who they will work against sometimes. For example, I have walked into a village before with an offensive aura while I was on one of my crusade missions," he added with a frown. "While it worked against some of the villagers, others it simply would not touch, even when they attacked me."

"Why do you think that is?" I asked, interested in this tide of new awareness. This was a potential loophole in an enemy's aura.

Scorpious shrugged. "I can only speculate. My current theory is that there are some people that God does not wish to be harmed by his power. A majority of the people that the aura failed against while I was in that village were just defending themselves and probably innocent of extreme wrongdoing. Though my spiritual energies failed against them, it didn't stop my personal agenda or my steel," he admitted with a pained grimace. "But like I said, these offensive abilities are selective on who they will affect. The defensive auras always work without fail," he relayed.

"You just said the word fail," Xialah interjected, speaking for the first time since the conversation began. "Does this imply that your pitiful powers are going to fizzle out on us at some point? Are they going to inconspicuously 'fail' against the Zakarumite demons?"she sneered.

Scorpious shot her a rueful glance at the mention of the word. "Fail perhaps wasn't the best choice of vocabulary," he admitted. "I've never had an aura completely give out on me and I pray I never will because that would mean I've displeased God in an egregious manner. As for the demons," he scowled, "you don't have to worry. Their energies are completely negative and no longer even remotely human. They're as much a blight to God as they are to us, if not more so. I've never seen any aura, from anyone I know, fail against one of those."

"You're not getting what I'm saying, helmet-head," Xialah snorted. "Those things you're speaking of are your everyday run of the mill monsters. I'm asking you if your auras are even going to touch the Zakarumites, which everyone knows were paladins just like you."

"Do you think that those demons can still use auras?" Cloudyous added, a grave look across his face.

Scorpious shook his head. "If the former faithful are indeed demonic, as all the claims lean towards, then their energy patterns are no longer human and they are certainly no longer pure. I have no doubt that my auras will continue to function the same as ever; perhaps the Lord might even make them stronger in the presence of such blasphemous taint. To address your question, Cloudyous, I highly doubt that they will be able to use any of their former holy powers. One of the greater intricacies of our auras is that they are granted to us by faith. This is also another reason why you don't see mages casting them. They don't have the fuel, and they can't, for some odd reason, learn these energy patterns or even seem to grasp the concept of them. I have heard of religious mages before, and these seem to be able to understand the principles, but cannot use the abilities. With that said, Paladins must fast, pray, and study our doctrines rigorously before we are even permitted to learn the concepts on paper. However, the final deciding factor is one's faith and conviction in the Lord. You can study all you want, but if you do not believe in God's power and have the right heart, you will not learn an aura. This process too, is selective, and the judge is the almighty. I've seen three cases in my own lifetime of promising paladins that failed to receive their auras. And they had possibly the best training and the best backing from our elders. Case and point: these abominations no longer believe in or serve God. Suffice to say, I don't think they will have working auras anymore. Nothing holy anyway," he finished.

"Fascinatin'," Alminus remarked admirably as he watched his energizing aura flicker around him.

"That certainly does seem to put things in new light," I admitted, looking at Piricus and waiting for his inevitable rebuttal.

"Am I the only one who sees a lack of detail here?" Piricus responded in exasperation. "The paladin just told you that something else fuels his auras, but even if that's true, he has no idea what that something could be. He just assumes, naively like always, that that something is his God. In actuality it could be some demon that has the lot of them wrapped around its little finger, playing them until it's time to strike. He conveniently left out the fact that the demon paladins were supposedly listening to this same 'presence'. I don't know about you people, but that screams warning bells to me."

"You might be the smartest one in your lot, necromancer," Xialah stated simply. "And I'll wager the one that survives the longest."

"No, he's just the most paranoid," Vendra corrected, shooting Piricus a contemptuous glare.

"Piricus has a valid point," Cloudyous supported. "We don't know what it is that Scorpious or any of the other paladins are or were listening to, seeing as we're not paladins ourselves. They could be the same thing, or two different ones, like I'm inclined to believe."

"Cloudyous, are you seriously saying that Scorpious is a demon's puppet and he's going to turn on us with the drop of a pin? I think you're the one that might be going crazy if you agree with that," Vendra scoffed.

"I didn't say that," my druid friend answered, resting each of his hands on one of his wolves. "I just said it was a possibility. Natalya said back in the square that something caused the paladins to turn and that they still didn't know what that was. In my personal opinion, I truly think there are two different influences because not every single paladin turned against humanity. There are two orders, the New and the Old and only one of them is corrupt to our knowledge. If you want more of my hypothesis, I'm also guessing that the corruption is region-specific. To my knowledge, the members of the old order stayed here and never left, while the members of the new order are like Scorpious and travel all around Sanctuary," he reasoned.

The moment Cloudyous was done speaking I couldn't help but feel an odd sense of déjà vu. It took me a few moments to place why that might be, but when I did, I soon became lost in my own thoughts. While Scorpious' aura was regenerating my energy, I knew to feel truly at my best I needed to sleep. What parts of my mind weren't actively needed for battle and survival strategies I had closed off until just now to preserve my dwindling focus and stamina. Something about what Cloudyous said, about the Zakarum corruption being regional, reminded me of the dream I'd been having since we left Lut Gholeign. It was mostly the same dream every night and none of the elements made sense save the one at the end. I always saw a monstrous demon made of completely of stained bones and living malice. It was a gruesome sight and one I knew to be Mephisto, the Lord of Hatred. I'd promised to tell Piricus about it, but hadn't gotten the chance yet. Maybe he'd be able to make something out of it.

I ran over the details of the dream over and over, cataloguing them to make sure I didn't leave anything potentially important out when I talked to Piricus later. I took mental note of the sights, feelings, smells, and sounds. One by one the details started to become so vivid, I felt like I was on the verge of a waking vision. I braced myself for the psychic experience, but was rudely interrupted by the most unpleasant of sounds. Something that sounded very similar to scampering rats was racing toward the left riverbank and soon I was hearing their jittering, nerve-grating chatter.

A hollow sound like wind through reeds accompanied the cacophony of irritating noise along with a barrage of tiny, narrow darts. My inner sight told me immediately where our attackers were and what weapons they were using. By my estimate we had two seconds before the first wave of minuscule missiles made impact.

"Scorpious!" I alerted swiftly, illuminating our opponents and their incoming darts with my inner sight for all to see.

Our auras shifted from demure orange to brilliant gold in a blink, encompassing the encroaching darts and dropping them into the water around us harmlessly.

"Ugh," Vendra grumbled, eyeing the line of rat-men lined up on the banks like a hellish welcome wagon. "These little bastards again!"

"Well we know what work," Sovellis asserted as he eyed them, showing a strong expression of irritation himself.

"And it will work even better because they're standing in the water," Vendra agreed, taking inventory of our opponents.

I swiftly scanned the banks with both my eyes and my inner sight, specifically seeking any of the deadly fire-breathing combinations that might be present. I didn't find any immediately around, but intuition told me that there were some nearby.

Brilliant lightning arced over Vendra and Sovellis' hands simultaneously, wrapping their illuminated arms in electricity. Vendra nodded to something unheard between them before the pair raised their arms overhead and worked in unison to form two halves of an expanding ring in the air above the raft. Exhaling an enchanted chorus at precisely the same moment, the lightning ring above us discharged in all directions, disseminating an ear-popping crack that even startled the demons.

The electric spell reached its targets in a blink. The demons that had actually entered into the shallows of the river to obtain a better shot at us were instantly and violently blown apart by the intense power surge conducted by the aqueous environment. Even a few of the demons on land had been fried into twitching heaps on the ground.

The resulting angry screeches from the multitude of miniature survivors sounded like a flock of attacking eagles. Following the same behavior pattern they had exhibited on the docks, the dying cries of their fellows spurred the demons into a higher level of savagery. After running amok for a few fractions of a second, the remaining demons reorganized themselves along the river bank. Intelligently, they'd spaced themselves further apart so another attack aimed for the group would be less effective.

Movement at the far right flank of their line caught my eye and I noticed a trio of the little menaces trying to run into the woods. Having nearly died in a similar scenario earlier, I didn't need to be told where they were going.

"Get those three before they escape!" I insisted aloud, reaching for a javelin on my back only to be immobilized by my close proximity to my comrades. My hand became roughly trapped between Ryelass' chest and Scorpious' opposite arm. I swore loudly, realizing I didn't have any room to even move an inch, much less throw a four foot javelin with so many people behind me.

"Which ones?" Ryelass replied apologetically.

"Those three," I emphasized crossly, redirecting my inner sight exclusively to the three fleeing monsters.

"Wha's so important 'bout them?" Alminus asked, trying to steer our boat straight despite the attack.

"They'll bring the shamans," Cloudyous answered him from the opposite side of the raft. "But I don't see why that matters unless we're going ashore here or somewhere close by. The current's picking up exponentially. If we just let Scorpious continue to shield us, we should be out of range in another minute or so," he assessed. "Xialah?" he added questioningly to her.

"I wouldn't get too excited," she announced blandly, "We've still got a couple of miles to go down this river. But," she continued, watching the row of demons begin to fall behind us, "I'd go ahead and pick as many of them off as you can. Those little hairballs are vicious and are going to be waiting for us wherever we make land now that they've seen us. And butch blondie back there does have a point, seeing as she remodeled her arm with a flare this evening. I'd kill those sprinters first, because those are three you know for sure will bring the bakers," she replied cynically.

"I don't think so," Laurella growled as she lined her bow with three arrows simultaneously. "That plan ends right now," she declared irritably and released her bowstring. The three arrows sailed through the air, taking on a white glow. Even as the three fleeing monsters tried to diverge in different directions, the arrows followed them accordingly and embedded deeply into their backs, stopping their mad dashes for assistance.

"Nice shot," Vendra remarked casually, as she dispatched a fireball from her palm at the monsters behind us.

"It was," Laurella agreed with an apathetic voice as she continued to fire at the demons.

"I think I'll join in. Can't let the ladies have all the fun," Ryelass insisted as he conjured a fireball in his own hand. It had been a while since I'd seen him use magic, but his control over it seemed to have improved slightly. The size of the projectile varied unstably for a moment, but then held consistent before he threw it. Dying jibbers followed us from downstream, suggesting strongly that the two acts of magic had found their way into something sentient.

"How much further?" Scorpious directed at Xialah from where he sat, still sustaining our radiating defiance auras. We were out of range, but not out of danger as we all knew.

"About another two miles if the current continues this way," she replied cleanly. "And I'm hoping it does," she added in a stony tone.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Laurella replied sourly, picking up like I did, on the implications in her tone.

"You said the currents change here because of the riverbed ore," Cloudyous recalled. "How often does it happen?"

Xialah gave him a petulant glare. "Often enough to be a real pain in the ass. Usually it takes a full cycle of the sun and moon, but not always. Everything out here is as random as, pardon the expression, _hell_," she informed with sarcasm. "And speaking of it, I'll be pissed as hell if we start going ass-backwards. That'll really put a damper on your night," she insisted.

"What? Your attitude or going backwards? Because both would give me the same amount of non-existent joy," I replied sarcastically.

"Save it fire-licker," Xialah retorted. "I'm just pointing this out, in the interest of time. If we get delayed, the kid gets flayed. That is if she hasn't been already. Interesting bit of poetry and realism in that sentence, remind me to write that one down," she sneered.

"You act like this is a game," Scorpious suddenly interjected with all manner of seriousness. "It isn't," he added sternly with a deep-set frown. "Jenny's life is on the line, not to mention the rest of the children those things took."

"What point is there in life if you don't have a little fun now and then?" Xialah replied dismissively with a shrug. "But, the fact of the matter, restless reverend, is that you couldn't be more wrong. This is a game. And it has the highest stakes of all. It's a thrill to them, you see. Those little pack rats aren't that much different from wolves," she added, giving Cloudyous' animal pair a glance. "They hunt as a tribe, but the hunt is a game. They don't hunt to eat; they do it for the hell of it. Literally. They mess with their targets, in here," she informed, taking one hand off of the oar she was holding to tap her forehead.

"How?" Alminus asked from the rear of the raft. "They don' seem tha' smart ter me."

Xialah scoffed. "That shows what you know. Stick to rowing back there. Thinking clearly isn't your strong suit. That's part of their guise. They act stupid, to draw unsuspecting, would-be heroes in. You saw them disperse on the bank back there. They made themselves harder to hit."

"But intelligence only does them so much good," Vendra pointed out. "They scatter like mice when one of them gets hit."

"What does any of this matter anyway?" Laurella grumbled, and for the first time in a while, I agreed with her. "We just need to do what we always do: kill the little bastards when they show up and then move on."

"You make it sound so simple," Xialah chided with a click of her tongue.

"It is," Laurella retorted coldly. "For those of us who are capable, anyway."

"If I didn't know better, I'd say that was an insult, shortcakes," Xialah snorted as she eyed Laurella.

My guess was that she had some sharp-tongued comeback on hand, but she never got a chance to use it. Our raft pitched forward without any warning, throwing us all uncomfortably into each other in awkward positions. However, no one had a spare moment to gripe over it because suddenly we were barreling downstream at a rate three times of what we had been before.

"What the hell is going on?" Vendra called out from underneath Alminus' leg.

My barbarian friend had slid several inches forward during the unexpected lurch and ended up kneeling to steady himself, which fortuitously placed Vendra underneath him without being crushed by his weight, albeit she was huddled nose-first into the raft.

"Let me find out," Cloudyous' voice replied, obscured from underneath an intertwined mass of bear and wolves. Cloudyous struggled from under Gaia's furry side, and over Sky's bushy tail, emitting a shrill cry to Bibo, whom had flown into the air the moment the raft pitched. The ebony bird cawed loudly and flapped her wings wildly. She raced uneasy circles in the air around our raft, looking in front of us at rapid intervals while continuing to fuss.

Cloudyous' grimaced as he interpreted her response and finished worming his way out from under his grizzly with a grunt. Belthem gave an irritated yip as the druid clambered over one of his back legs and plunged his entire arm up to the elbow into the water beside the raft. He started chanting something feverishly in the druidic tongue, trying to interpret his bird's frantic screeches between breaths.

"Well?" Piricus asked irritably after a few moments of undistinguishable muttering.

"We're about to hit an enormous waterfall!" Cloudyous blurted in a single breath. "I'm trying to redirect the current!" he furthered, giving the response only a moment in the middle of his chanting.

"Have you enough time?" Sovellis asked him swiftly, surveying the swirling water with skepticism. "That huge task for mage, even for druid like you."

I could understand Sovellis' reservations. Although our raft started to slow, we were still shooting downstream like an arrow downwind. Cloudyous' spell intensified and I could visibly see the strain he was under, even in the almost total darkness. The raft quaked tangibly, rocking side to side under the friction of Cloudyous' spell as he tried to divert our course. The water around our raft began to churn and then rotate before we were cast sideways and Cloudyous was forced to recant his efforts with an uncharacteristic curse.

"It's too strong," he groaned, "and we're picking up too much momentum."

"How did this happen?" Ryelass snorted hotly, turning to Xialah. "If you knew there was a waterfall like this on the way why the hell didn't you say something before now?"

"That's just it, half-pint," she retorted with bitterness, "I didn't. This wasn't here before."

"How can a waterfall just appear out of nowhere?" I griped at her incredulously, fully backing Ryelass in his fiery assertion. "Especially when we've just been going straight this entire time and haven't exited anywhere?"

A thunderous noise pounded through the eerie, muted jungle as our gurgling river suddenly gave way into a tumultuous waterfall about two hundred feet away. I could tell by the sound, and by the way the wind whipped by us and was sucked downward into dark nothing that this was no mere dip in the waterway. This was going to be a serious plunge and we only had minutes left to avert disaster.

"We need to come up with something quick! We can figure out what happened later!" Laurella declared tensely, expressing the inner sentiments of everyone on board.

"How many of you lot know ice magic?" Xialah assessed quickly, though somehow even this simple statement still managed to contain an element of rudeness.

"She and me," Sovellis answered, looking to Vendra with a nod.

"It's not elemental, but I can also assist you with some of my magic if you're thinking what I'm thinking," Cloudyous assured, though with a fatigued posture.

"If you're thinking about freezing this wild ride solid, you'd be right," Xialah affirmed as icy vapor puffed into crystalline clouds around her wrists. "Give it everything you've got you three. I don't want to do _all_ the work."

"Yeah, yeah. This isn't a pissing contest," Vendra reminded irritably as she and Sovellis prepared simultaneous ice spells and Cloudyous started humming a strange, but stirring melody that felt mildly of magic. "As it is, the shot we have at this succeeding is slim."

"We don't need it anywhere but in front of us," Xialah informed while taking aim, "So eyes on the prize people. We're not aiming to stop this whole damn river, just to ice ourselves in so we don't go topsy-turvy."

"M' gonna say a lil' less talk n' a lot more castin'," Alminus stated nervously as we watched the impending dead-drop speed closer.

The three conventional magi took aim directly in front of the racing raft and loosed a torrent of intense, freezing energy. The three of them overlapped their wide, silvery-blue beams into a column of icy magic that hissed as it made contact with the water's surface. The dark water under us began to crack and crystallize, but their efforts were too little too late. They managed to freeze a section of water just as our raft surged over it, rendering their arcane ineffective. I watched anxiously as the edge of the pounding waterfall loomed into actual sight through the darkness.

The stale air around us started to move and in the moments afterward, our surroundings dropped several degrees in temperature. A cold chill passed over my exposed skin; predominantly on my face and I felt a nip in my cheeks. Cloudyous' melody had become a whistling echo, and I realized a moment later, that this supernatural wind was whispering back. The mass of animated air wrapped itself securely around Cloudyous, causing all of us to shiver once more across any flesh we had exposed, before it tunneled around his arms and over his hands. The wind met the water, joining the three magi's ice spells at the base and giving it three times the power. Thickened ice the color of snow elongated in front of us, creating a wintery barrier that our raft hastily collided into. The motion jarred everyone sideways, but it seems we had halted completely about thirty feet shy of the severe plunge.

"Well that was exciting," Vendra remarked sarcastically after we'd stopped. "Let's get off this thing before—"

A tumultuous cracking noise silenced everyone's temporary relief and to our dismay, the frozen wall began to give way. Unfortunately, it seemed like we'd underestimated the power of the free-flowing current behind us and it crashed our ice barrier into splinters. The raft surged forward, propelled by the intense suction of the waterfall. I was at a loss on what to do, we only had a second to figure out a course of action and nothing came to mind.

"Everyone hang on!" Cloudyous shouted loudly above the roaring rapids as he threw radiant waves of green-brown energy into the water around us in last-second desperation. I could feel the huge energy expenditure from whatever spell he had just cast and for several moments, his entire body quaked dangerously. Dizzied from the acute loss of mana, he stumbled and lost his footing. Cloudyous started to fall backwards toward the water, and none of us were able to reach him fast enough to stop his fall. Belthem was the only one remotely able to act; the silver wolf snapped onto the top of one of Cloudyous' leather boots and yanked backwards using only his jaws and neck, though under great strain. Belthem growled and grunted as he tried in vain to pull his human friend back onto the raft with just his upper body in the confined space. He failed miserably, but luckily he was soon aided by Bibo, who flew down from her anxious vigil above us and latched onto the sleeve of his linen shirt with her talons. She flapped her wings madly in a backward direction, doing her best alongside Belthem to pull him back into balance on our raft. The desperate labor of the animal duo succeeded in pulling Cloudyous back toward us at the last possible moment and he fell directly and without the slightest manner of grace on top of Xialah. I didn't hear what I knew must have been a string of unpleasantries, I was too distracted by the multiple, jagged spires of faintly sparkling rock as they spiked through the water around us wrapped in druidic energy.

Our raft collided sideways into the first one and actually lost a portion of the siding. The force of the crash turned the raft a complete circle in the water, though we ended up traveling in a horizontal direction thereafter. The raft hit another adjacent rock as it sprung up from nowhere and bounced us roughly into one beside it. Three more spires sprang up in front of us, effectively protecting us from the waterfall. After a few more moments, a solid barrier of unyielding earth had formed across the entire river and the diverted current drove us horizontally onto the right riverbank with a vengeance. Sand and mud sprayed into the air as we plowed across ten feet of ground before coming abruptly to a halt that threw a few of us into the soggy dirt. I had to smile at my fortune; for once, I wasn't one of them. To my utter delight, Xialah was.

Cloudyous must have dragged her over the edge with him; it looked like part of her scaled left sleeve had caught in his muskrat-hide shawl and linked them together. As it was, both of them were covered all over their fronts in rank-smelling mud and decaying plant foliage. Xialah shoved at him angrily and managed to slide out from underneath him only because she was plastered in slippery goo. She glared at him spitefully as he rolled over and grimaced apologetically.

"Sorry," he managed in a mild tone as he returned to his feet shakily. He staggered as he tried to step forward and stumbled, catching Xialah's trailing arm to steady himself as he fell.

"You should be," Xialah growled in disgust and yanked her arm out from underneath him, causing him to fall onto his knees. "Now I have shit all over me. If you're too weak to stand on your own then just fall down and stay here," she demanded heartlessly. "I've no time for the weak or injured."

"Come on now. Tha's jus' cold," Alminus reprimanded, hearing her remark as he tried to brush the stale gunk off of his skin. "Considerin' tha' he jus' saved all o' our asses, includin' yurs."

Xialah glowered at him, unmoved by his logic in the slightest. "I already had a plan," she countered plainly, "I didn't _need_ his help, or anyone elses'. He just acted a split second before me."

"Yeah right," Ryelass snorted. "I find that a little hard to believe."

"Believe what you want, short-round. No one ever said you were smart," she retorted, still with the same arrogant air.

"Wow," Vendra scoffed, "I'm starting to think jackass might have found a soul mate in you," she added with a brief glance between Xialah and Piricus. Both of them scowled at her, wearing nearly identical expressions.

Vendra's comment didn't sit well with me, even if it was meant in a taunting manner. A part of me instantly experienced a pang of jealousy the moment the remark left her lips and I strained against the emotion with my logical mind for several minutes. Even I couldn't deny that the two were strikingly similar in many ways…..

I shook my head, forcing the thoughts clear for the moment. This was petty and right now, it was out of place. Besides, Piricus hadn't shown even the slightest bit of interest in that tavern trash up to this point and as abrasive as their personalities were, even if he did, those attentions were sure to fade quickly. Somehow I didn't think Piricus could stand having a twin personality around without killing something.

Scorpious assumed his normal position of party leadership once he'd assessed our current position. "Xialah," he directed, "Do you know where we are right now?"

With a final animosity-imbued expression in Cloudyous' direction she turned to him and rolled her eyes. "Of course I do!"

"Are you serious, or are you just saying that? Considering that thus far, your guidance has been terrible. You had absolutely no idea how to deal with those frog demons and somehow you also managed to lose track of a towering waterfall," Laurella reminded bitterly, scanning the area with her eyes suspiciously. "If I didn't know better, I'd say you were _trying_ to get us killed," she added in a calculating voice.

The faintest of shivers passed through my spine as Laurella spoke, and suddenly I was looking through the darkness as well. The presence was distinct; we were being watched by several creatures in the shadows. My instinct immediately registered the demonic, and I knew they must have been the rat men from earlier. I was mildly surprised that the little bastards had managed to disguise themselves from detection so well; I couldn't feel but the slightest trace of them amidst the jungle and the energies of my traveling companions. Maybe it was because I was still somewhat sluggish and just getting sloppy. Either way, the other odd factor here was that the little frenzied freaks hadn't made any move to attack us yet, which was curious behavior for them. Piricus watched me keenly through the dark, and then looked just beyond me to Laurella. Neither of them said anything, so I decided to hold my tongue as well and listen for another few moments. Perhaps one of our unseen watchers would give themselves away or I could glean some type of intention from them.

Xialah crossed her arms over her copper-toned half-breastplate. "Now why in Sanctuary would I intentionally try to kill you? Seeing as if all of you die, I wouldn't get paid. Secondly, maybe you didn't notice freckle-face, but I'm not suicidal. I would NOT have gotten on that raft knowing there was a waterfall at the end that'd crunch my carcass like a bug under marble. Use your brain if you're even old enough to have one," she scoffed haughtily.

"It's not her fault," Cloudyous interjected, rubbing his thigh sorely and leaning against Gaia's massive side for support.

"Then explain to me how this hapless mercenary could logically lose a waterfall of that size, druid. For once I'm actually interested in the answer," Piricus responded dryly as he too scanned the area around us.

"The riverbed rock that I pulled from the bottom was tampered with recently," Cloudyous replied in earnest.

"Well Xialah say they shift often," Sovellis reminded him as we all listened.

Cloudyous draped his arm around Gaia's neck when he started to slouch, endeavoring fiercely to remain standing. The gargantuan bear exhaled a deep breath through her wide nostrils, but didn't give any other adverse reaction to his close proximity as Cloudyous continued.

"I don't mean the ore shifted in polarity. That would be natural, and besides, we only went straight in one direction. I mean that something, some other sentient entity, with incredibly powerful shamanistic talents, raised that portion of the ground up into what we just saw. That waterfall was artificially created, and my guess was sometime in the recent past. I believe wholeheartedly that Xialah is telling the truth. This river used to be flat until something changed it," he declared in all seriousness.

"Wha' do ya think it was?" Alminus asked quietly, though it seemed like he already had the right answer in his mind.

"Do you even have to ask?" Ryelass breathed sourly. "It had to be _him._ He knows we're on his trail and he's trying to trip us up. Besides, what else do you know of out here that has that kind of power?"

"Nothin' as far as I know," Alminus admitted.

Scorpious silenced the pair of them with a heavy and exhausted sigh. His shoulders seemed to sag under the weight of his silver platemail as he addressed the group. "Right now, that doesn't matter. This mission is to rescue Jenny and the rest of those children that the rat men took. We're getting grossly off the mark and that's something we cannot afford. Xialah said she knows where she is, therefore, it's time to resume moving."

"Paladin, I fail to see how this occurrence is _not_ of consequence," Piricus countered as he continued to watch the shadows. "If the Lord of—"he started, speaking the concern in everyone's mind.

"How long ago can you date the energy?" I asked Cloudyous across him, trying immediately to ascertain the likelihood of another encounter with a Prime Evil. I couldn't deny that if Diablo was indeed somewhere in this area, we were at a serious disadvantage to fight him. We were all running on nothing more than adrenaline and whatever hour of sleep those select few of us had gotten earlier. Not to mention neither Piricus nor Cloudyous were in good enough condition for a battle of that caliber.

Cloudyous' expression relaxed a small amount as he answered. "If I had to guess, two days ago. I think we're in the clear, especially because none of them are acting up," he said, gesturing to the group of animals huddled around him, "and I also think you and Laurella would be able to sense him if he were here. I agree with Scorpious, we need to move quickly."

"R' ya in any shape ter travel?" Alminus asked him dubiously. "Tha' wers some serious castin' back there."

"I'll ride on Gaia's back for a while and I should be fine," Cloudyous assured as he pulled himself onto the grizzly's shoulders.

Xialah snorted as she watched him. "Take the lazy way, why don't you? Well don't get too comfortable wild thing, you don't have any time for a nap. We're actually about ten minutes away from our intended destination anyway. Imagine that," she said sarcastically.

Vendra raised an eyebrow in disbelief. "Really? We're that close? Why haven't we seen any demons then? I thought those little bastards were keen on keeping out intruders?"

"What about demons of earlier?" Sovellis added cautiously.

"They're watching us right now," Laurella announced. "They're everywhere," she continued, gesturing around with open arms.

"And why didn't you say something before now?" Ryelass grumbled at her, reaching for his sword.

"Don't, Ryelass," I demanded, instantly halting his movement. "They haven't attacked us yet," I answered for Laurella, coming to the same conclusion that she must have. "We still have the element of surprise. They don't know that we know where they are. They're going try to ambush us, and if we go along with it for right now, we can make a counterattack and catch them off guard. We can probably draw them in so closely that we can finish them off all at once," I explained, sharing my hypothesis with the others.

"That would be preferable," Ryelass agreed and let his hand hang at his side. "Those little pricks are incredibly difficult to pick off one by one."

"All this hangs on the fact that they don't know what we're saying right now," Vendra pointed out, trying to act casual. "Are we sure that they don't? Otherwise it'll be us that fall into the trap."

"What do you think, Xialah?" Cloudyous asked respectfully, completely ignoring her earlier contempt of him. "You have the most experience dealing with them, seeing as they aren't anything out of the ordinary here."

"You're asking her?" Laurella snorted begrudgingly. "Where's Maria when you need her?" she muttered as an afterthought.

"Gone," Piricus growled in a nasty tone, suddenly becoming livid at her mere mention. "Which is where that murdering bitch should stay if she wants to prolong her life. When I find her, she's going to die a vile and painful death," he vowed with more animation than I'd seen from him since the frog attack. His eyes flashed eerie emerald in the dark and the tone in his voice was sinister as he voiced his promise. Not even a single person questioned the verity in it, everyone knew he was balefully serious, even Xialah, whom to my knowledge, had never met Maria.

"Sounds like that unlucky bitch made the top of your hit list, string bean," Xialah declared in a nonchalant manner. "What'd she do? Steal your last cookie?"

Piricus glowered at her. "It's none of your business mercenary, get back to your job or you'll take the assassin's place on my list."

Xialah smirked and gave him an appreciative half-nod. "So this Maria's a Viz-Jaq'Taar, huh? Can't say I blame you, for once. I've never liked those sorry snots an ounce and it pisses me off royally that Hratli decided to give Natalya a position on the Dock Watcher's Counsel. Give the bitch a little extra hell when you catch her, she more than deserves it just by the nature of what she is."

"I intend to," Piricus admitted darkly. "When I'm finished, reincarnation will no longer even be possible for her."

"Stop it!" Scorpious demanded after listening to their exchange with a bitter and pained face. "This retched conversation doesn't even have a place in our current circumstances!" he insisted sharply after the momentary pause following his outburst. "Xialah, stop wasting time," he ordered in a no-nonsense tone.

Although he didn't say anything else to Scorpious directly, Piricus narrowed his eyes onto him. A cold smile fleeted across his lips. "Apparently it works both ways," he said vaguely before falling silent, leaving everyone to guess at what he meant.

Scorpious turned away from him without a word and waited on Xialah's response.

I didn't need to be a genius to know that the two of them had stabbed into a very tender nerve. The heartstrings were the most painful and vulnerable area of any person and Scorpious was no exception. His reaction was completely human, but not completely normal for my friend as I knew him. He usually shrugged talk like this off because that's all it ever was. Talk. However, more and more, it was becoming apparent that something was changing in him. I could only hope that his current ill-tempered mannerisms were caused by fleeting circumstances. Fatigue, the loss of Khalim, and the stress of Jenny's abduction were only a few of the unpleasantries he'd been forced to endure without the proper time in which to cope. I'd only observed ten minutes or less of them interacting physically, but from what I'd seen in Scorpious' mind earlier aboard the ship, Jenny was someone that held a significant place in his life. I can't imagine what it must have been like for him to randomly meet her again after all these years and in such awful circumstances. Add to that the short duration of their reunion and then her kidnapping by horrid, murderous monsters, and I could see why he'd be responding to things more rashly than usual. Maybe when we found her and returned her safely to the docks, his disposition would return to normal. That was…if she was still alive when we found her. My stomach knotted over the grim, but very real possibility that we might find her otherwise. I inwardly prayed to Zerae that we'd find her safe, and soon. I didn't like the sickening feeling in my gut when I thought about what her loss might do to Scorpious.

Xialah shrugged apathetically as she acknowledged Scorpious' demands. "Whatever you say, you're the boss right now and time is money. Getting back to your question wolf-wrangler, those little puke piles have no clue how to decipher our language so we're safe in that regard. What's our plan for taking them out? Because we need to start moving soon or they'll get too suspicious and attack us anyway," she asked looking around at us and then casting a furtive glance into the shadows.

"Sovellis and I can probably handle them the quickest," Vendra suggested. "Jackass could be useful in this case too if he wants to be," she added with a contemptuous glare in his direction.

"Cloudyous too, if you up to it," Sovellis continued, looking at the druid atop Gaia's back.

"I think I can come up with something," he offered with a light-hearted grin.

"How about it, jackass?" Vendra asked again, looking directly at him. "Are you up for doing something useful?"  
Piricus snorted. "Unlike you, spell-slinger, I always do something useful. What I'm planning for our little stalkers is most unpleasant," he assured with a malicious twinkle in his eyes.

"I hope so," I encouraged him, taking silent inventory on the positions of our attackers. "I'm certainly not going to show the little bastards any mercy. Speaking of which, Scorpious do you think that you can shield us with your fire-repelling aura from earlier? I sense four more of those shaman things nearby," I informed, letting my inner senses settle on the vertical two-demon combinations in the darkness around us.

"You didn't need to ask," he assured, as rings of blood-orange light pulsed out of our skin and around our armor. "That aura is a given in this situation. Xialah, seeing as you are the head of this group and one of the most at risk, accepting this aura is not optional," he added to our guide after a moment. My paladin friend made it very clear in the sternness of his tone that this matter was not up for debate.

The ill-tempered mercenary offered him a displeased scowl in reply, but even she had to realize the benefit such a thing would provide her. "Very well, seeing as I really don't want to barbecue like blondie did earlier. But don't make this a habit reverend," she replied, icy as always. "This way," she announced and walked to our left like nothing could go wrong.

"We need to hurry," Laurella proclaimed to the group at large, just as I opened my mouth to deliver the same warning. "The demons are a little upset over our auras. They're beginning to catch on."

I knew what she said to be the truth. There had been a shift in the demons' energies. The unseen rat men had become increasingly agitated since the moment Scorpious encased us openly in his aura. If we wanted to gain some ground before the fight broke out, we needed to be quick about making headway.

No one spoke as we followed Xialah around several winding gaps in the trees. The going was slow, but I knew why she was walking a zigzag. We had to stay in as open an area as possible and avoid walking through potentially entangling clusters of vines or moving through tight spaces. Taking a direct path, even through the dense jungle underbrush, would have been undeniably faster, however the risk of the demons attacking in those moments was high.

As we moved, I was becoming increasingly aware of more living entities in our area. I focused on the new patterns and identified them as more rat men, much to my chagrin. I tried silently to gain an estimate of their numbers, coming up with somewhere in the range of forty. I grimaced and I felt the negative expression tighten the muscles in my face. With the ones in front and the ones around us, our total opposition now numbered somewhere around eighty demons. This could only mean one thing. We were about to walk into their actual stronghold and into the ambush the demons prepared. I had to admit, they were clever little bastards. They stomached our presence long enough to allow us into a two-pronged trap. Well, unfortunately for them, they were dealing with an amazon warrior with superior senses.

"We need to spring the trap now," I decided for the group at large. "There are about forty more of those little bastards waiting for us ahead. We should pick them off out here, and draw the ones in there out to us. That way they can't lie in wait and jump us all at once."

"You're sure?" Scorpious reiterated without turning around.

"Paladin, when has she ever been wrong about something like this?" Piricus scoffed irritably. "That's just as well," he affirmed to me without looking. "I was getting tired of waiting around anyway. Severius sanguinia vitalia…" he muttered, raising both of his hands to shoulder-level and throwing a powerful scarlet glow around himself. The red rays of light circled around his arms before shooting out in multiple prongs that traveled in all directions around us into the darkness.

A plethora of angered screeches told me that whatever curse Piricus cast had just taken affect and the rat men around us where none too pleased about it. They came charging at us from all sides; some jumped out of the trees, others surfaced from their concealment in the jungle brush, and the rest simply came bounding over the spots they'd been following from.

"Why is it that jackass gets to decide when we attack?" Vendra muttered as she and Sovellis mimicked their actions on the river and started to conjure their hemispheres of electricity.

"Ya got a better plan? This fight'll go a lot easier with tha less o' 'em we got ter worry 'bout!" Alminus reminded simply as he flung a throwing axe the size of my head into the face of an on-coming rat demon. It died with a grotesque squeal and was quickly trampled beneath its stampeding fellows.

It seems Laurella and I had the same idea; both of us projected our inner sight around our respective areas. Together, we unmasked our forty predators and their four, fire-breathing shamans.

I grabbed a javelin from my back and took aim at the closest one, which was about thirty feet away. Much to my pleasure, another of the four was running directly beside that one. I side-stepped, giving myself a more direct shot. I pooled my spiritual energy around my throwing arm and then merged it into my javelin, charging the metal tip and even the wooden shaft. I concentrated all of my muscle power into my bone-covered forearm, and loosed the sparking weapon. My rejuvenated flesh under Piricus' armor gave me a satisfying tingle, as if it were a conscious part of my being and it wholly appreciated the revenge I'd just enacted. The lightning javelin actually skewered the top part of a singular rat man's face before plowing point-first into the side of the top demon of one shaman pair. Continuing with electric vengeance, it burnt cleanly through that demon and into the one beside it. The enchanted javelin traveled five more feet before embedding itself into a nearby tree and exploding in a spectacular display of flashing light, killing four more demons.

"Heads up!" Vendra warned a split second before a ring of pure lightning boomed out around us in a circle, focused about waist-high. The ten demons that were unlucky enough to be in the front of the charge instantly exploded upon contact with the mages' spell, spewing gore everywhere.

Cold magic filled the area like a fresh snowstorm as a swirling disc of ice hurled through the air and expanded into a misty, freezing ring. As the crystalline vapor washed over the second wave of jittering demons, they froze solid. Moments later, they were broken into shards by the physical ice rotating like a throwing star. Even those that hadn't been subjected to the freezing mist were still lacerated into scrap.

"That was impressive magic, Vendra," I called to her over my shoulder.

"It wasn't me," she answered quickly. "That was Xialah," she corrected with a tone of genuine respect in her voice.

"Yes. It seem she very good ice magess," Sovellis complimented after witnessing her latest display.

Their compliments toward her soured my mood, petty though that was. "I take it back," I revoked grouchily. "It really wasn't that impressive after all."

"Sure coulda fooled me," Alminus laughed as he moved by and kicked an attacking rat demon in the face, which conveniently held enough force to snap its neck. "It killed enough o' 'em."

"There's nothing to be jealous of," Ryelass directed at me as he sliced through three demons around himself at once with his sparking sword. "Magic is cheap. It takes a real woman to kill demons using nothing but her own steel and strength."

"Thanks a lot, hypocrite," Vendra snorted sarcastically. "In case you forgot, you're technically a mage now too."

"I guess," Ryelass admitted as he impaled another demon on the tip of his lightning blade, "but I still prefer cold steel to hot magic."

"To each his own way," Cloudyous contributed to the conversation with a smirk. "I'm thinking I should lend Laurella a hand," he surmised aloud as he watched the young archer come into range of a barrage of darts. The wind around us started to rotate as our druid friend created a mild cyclone at the edge of our battle site. It wasn't enough to physically deter any of the remaining demons; however it was enough to sweep their projectiles grossly off course.

With the projectile threat gone on her side, Laurella stood out from behind the tree she was using as cover and pegged three blow-gun wielding rat men with one shot. Then, turning expertly, she fired two arrows at once from her bow, killing both the top and bottom components of the shaman sneaking up on her. Laurella was lucky to have inner sight, I thought to myself grimly. As it was, that shaman was probably about an inch of out blasting range when she stopped it.

"We've almost got them," Ryelass assessed, drawing our attention to the three remaining demons and their shaman.

The three minion demons were sizing up Piricus with frightened expressions, judging by the way their dull, black eyes were blinking rapidly every few seconds and they were starting to quake at the knees. Whatever curse he'd used definitely left an impression on the little bastards, and they knew who it had come from. Piricus' emerald eyes flashed with loathing as he stared the trio of demons down. I laughed when one of them actually dropped its knife and started running away from him.

"I don't think so, cowardly vermin," Piricus exclaimed apathetically. His eyes narrowed on the demon and a sickly yellow light encircled its legs. Within seconds its flesh, muscle, and bone disintegrated into dust, dropping the now legless demon onto the ground writhing and screeching in torment.

"Think about that for a minute or two," Piricus hissed at it coldly and turned to its fellows. One swift blast of venomous energy on each of his hands ended their existences. Having dealt with the immediate threat, he sauntered up to the pitching, legless demon and stomped mercilessly on its miniature back, breaking it. The paralyzed demon screeched in agony one final time before a barbed spell blasted its head clean from its shoulders.

"That a little much I say," Sovellis declared as he watched the brutal display. "Not to say I feel sorry for demon at all."

"I think he's a little pissed off," I observed frankly. "And I don't blame him in the least."

"That should be the last of them," Vendra announced, looking around.

"No. One shaman left," Sovellis reminded, causing all of us to search the area for it immediately.

A bright spurt of orange flame showed us where the demon was and underneath the intense fire, I could see a gleam of silver. I realized instantly Scorpious was trapped within the demon's magic and I grabbed a javelin, preparing to assist him.

I drew back my arm to throw, but knew in a moment's notice there was no need. The top demon in the shaman duo screamed in agony as a silvery sword erupted from the back of its head. The flame died away simultaneously to reveal an aggravated Scorpious. He was drenched in thick layers of sweat, and other than a sooty hue over the front of his armor he was completely unharmed.

Scorpious savagely flung the lifeless demon from his blade and toppled it off the other's shoulders. The remaining demon tried to flee, but he grabbed the back of its neck in his armored hand, stilling it in a vice-like grip and then ran it through.

"Speakin' o' pissed off. I'd say Piricus isn' tha only one," Alminus stated comically as he admired Scorpious' short work of the troublesome demon.

"I wish it had gone this smoothly the first time," I grumbled bitterly. "Then we wouldn't be out here to begin with."

"What's going on?" Ryelass asked, suddenly alert and watching the demon blood splattered all over the ground.

Having called my attention to the odd phenomena occurring at the moment, I watched curiously too as the blackish blood of our recently slain foes seeped onto the ground and then evaporated into a fine, red mist. The grisly vapor floated in our direction and then swirled into a solid, crimson cloud that gathered just shy of Piricus' body. He whisked his hands through the scarlet smoke with a contented expression, absorbing it into himself. The effects were immediate. The bruised, crusty gouges in his wrist and forearm from the earlier frog battle shriveled into themselves and then disappeared. His skin darkened momentarily around a bruise under his chin before it too disappeared. His peaky skin tone returned to a normal coloration and he stood up completely straight without any sign of exhaustion for the first time all night. I knew exactly what he'd done without asking. After all, he'd once used that same variety of curse on me.

"Wow, look at you," Xialah snorted as she watched him. "Better in a flash. That was a pretty handy combo you threw out just now, but I'm still thinking mine was more impressive."

"Combo?" Ryelass asked with loathing as he watched the pair of them.

"Piricus employed the use of a weakening curse for the group and life-tapped their essences in the process," Scorpious explained briefly as he walked over. "Now that we've settled—"he started.

A lurid scream shattered our stilled atmosphere and the rest of Scorpious' sentence. The unexpected noise started all of us for one, grim reason. That scream had been entirely human and judging by the pitch, it belonged to a human child.

Scorpious didn't waste another second on conversation or on planning. Readying his sword, he bolted through the darkness without Xialah's leadership in the direction of the scream. He disappeared so quickly that the only sign we had of him was the trail of his blood-orange aura.

Well, it wasn't like I thought he was going to get legitimately lost. From the sound of it, that scream couldn't have been more than a quarter mile away at most and the direction was distinct. Another blood-curdling scream rang through the air followed by two more from different voices. After another split second, the air was so alive with the sounds of excruciation it sounded like we were listening to a symphony of the damned.

"Xialah, how many kids did those things take?" Alminus called loudly over the demented ruckus as we all started running after Scorpious.

Even Piricus joined in our charge. However, I suspect it was because he was more keen on extracting revenge on the demons for costing him is time and effort rather than rescuing some of what he would probably call half-crazed, useless children.

"At least four that I know of," she answered and for the first time, she forewent any sarcasm.

It was a sentiment she and I could agree on. The chorus of agony around us was unsettling and every single scream passed through my corporeal being and into my soul, filling it with anxiety, tension, and dread. I could only come to one conclusion about what was happening, and it coincided perfectly with what Xialah told us about the ratmen playing mind games earlier. We'd effectively broken their ambush in half and killed a large number of their tribe. We were dangerous to them, and there was no way anything intelligent would come out of their stronghold after us given the strength we'd just displayed. Their best chance at survival lay in pulling us into their own territory where they could execute the other half of the ambush. The foul creatures were using the children they'd captured from the docks earlier as bait for us. They must have been saving them for something, however when we showed up, they must have started to torture them because they knew it would likely bring us running. And it did. But, what these vermin failed to realize is that we already knew where they were and given what they'd just done, we were going to plow through there with a wrath unparalleled to anything they'd seen yet.

I could make out several walls up ahead that were about chest-high and just beyond those were the tops of what appeared to be thatched huts. The agonizing yells where coming from behind the walls, and so was the concentration of demon energy. Ahead of us, I could see Scorpious, wrapped in his flaring aura. He turned his shoulder to one of the walls and plowed straight through it, creating an entryway for us through what was unmistakably mud. I heard the shrieking of the demons, signaling they'd acknowledged Scorpious' dramatic entrance into their primitive village. My paladin friend shouted a battle cry that I know Alminus was grinning over from behind me and then the sounds of battle broke out.

We weren't long in reaching the entrance he'd created for us; however the majority of us found it easier and less time consuming to simply run through the brittle earth on our own. I was one of that majority. Shouldering the impact like Scorpious had done, I plunged against the dry mud and burst through it with ease. The dirt I stirred upon entry caused me more of a hassle than the wall had; I breathed some of it in and coughed profusely. The dirt temporarily clouded my vision and I wiped at my eyes. When the haze cleared, a grizzly sight greeted me.

Like I thought, we were standing in a small, primitive village within a cluster of small huts. There were tiny torches burning all around this demon establishment, ignited from leaves and the like inside hollowed human skulls that had been placed on pikes assembled from more bones. From the firelight and the crunch underfoot, I noticed that the entire floor of this place was coated in a collection of stained, yellowed bones that had been stripped clean of flesh. Many were unmistakably human, but there were quite a few animal bits mixed in. The bones all around us were also marked with browned splotches and gouged by small teeth marks at jagged angles, suggesting their former owners met a miserable end.

Blood was omnipresent in this demonic environment as well. A reddish-brown coating tainted what little ground was visible underneath the mass of osseous matter and adorned the sides of the reed huts in haphazard splatters. The scent of death was nearly overwhelming and provided a hellish prelude to what I saw next.

Ten feet ahead of us, surrounded by waist-high demons, were three, flat carving tables. Upon each one, was a thrashing child. Everything within me revolted with horror. Being taller than both the demons and the tables, I could clearly see the atrocities the rat men were committing. The girl on the table closest to me had several layers of her skin flayed off. The tops of her thighs were missing; one of her shoulders was split open down the front, displaying everything within and one of her feet had been cut off at the ankle. The worst part of this carnage was by far the fact that she was still alive and gushing buckets of blood everywhere.

Rage instantaneously accompanied my utter revulsion. I threw the javelin I had in hand without really aiming; I knew there were too many of them not to hit something and I couldn't see the demon holding the knife they were using. As it was, I maimed one in the front through its left arm before the javelin found its way into three demons behind it. Not satisfied in the slightest, I grabbed another javelin and threw it fiercely, aiming this time and killing two more. Once those two dropped, I had a clear shot at the weapon-wielding rat man and I took it without hesitation. I charged this particular javelin with a serious amount of spiritual energy; I poured all of my vengeance and repulsion into it, and prayed with every fiber of my being that Zerae would combine her own will into it for the administration of justice. I locked my eyes solely on the demon torturing the child and as I did, my entire being overflowed with outrage. I felt my throwing arm begin to shake and then pulse before a blinding white light burst into being. Power, such as I'd never felt washed through Piricus' armor and over my skin, causing every pore in it to vibrate. A white hot spiritual energy coursed through my metaphysical senses burning with unparalleled intensity, though I was not harmed in any way by it. It took me a moment to realize that this energy was my own and when I looked at my arm, I found that instead of an electrically charged weapon, I now gripped a bolt of pure lightning in its place.

I didn't take even a second to ponder the mechanics or the marvel. I launched my lightning bolt without another thought. I blinked and the demon was dead, fried to a crisp instantly by the lightning bolt that traveled faster than my eyes could register. What was more, upon impact with the offending demon, the one lightning bolt branched into three more and each found their way into another grouping of two or three demons. As they fell, I knew I must have just killed fifteen or so monsters with one shot.

My blood was still boiling when the tormented cries of the child on the slab recaptured my focus. Any hope I held of rescuing her instantly vanished as I reassessed the situation. I'd killed her attackers, but anyone with eyes knew that she was beyond saving. Even the most skilled of healers would have paled if asked. There was only one thing I could do to stop this poor girl's agony, and even the thought repulsed me. I found it entirely repugnant to kill a child, especially a human one. However, the only way to save her from this horrendous torture was to end her suffering quickly. Every ounce of my heart cried in anguish as I approached the table, oblivious to everything around me. The closer I moved, the worse the physical carnage became. But this child's physical suffering was nothing compared to the abyss of torture her psyche wrapped around mine. My inner sight screamed with unpleasant emotions strong enough to make a trail of tears leak out of my eyes.

The girl was oblivious as I approached. She was in too much pain to even realize the nightmarish torture had ceased. I drew my crystal sword as another tear fell from my face. My tear landed on her cheek as I hovered over her, a mourning executioner.

"I'm so sorry," I breathed tragically and drove my sword into her chest through her heart. The child who couldn't have been more than seven years gave one final outcry of intense agony before she fell silent and still. The assault on my psychic senses faded abruptly, but not my rage or my pain.

"I'm so sorry," I told her again, hoping that somehow her soul could still hear me, but from better place. "I promise you that you won't have died in vain. I will avenge you," I vowed. "Rest in peace."

I was seized roughly from behind and grungy, coarse hands grabbed at my throat. I didn't need to see to know it was a rat demon. And judging by the height, I'd just been seized by a shaman. True to character, searing heat blistered the back of my neck as fire sprayed around my head. Thankfully, I was still encased in Scorpious' protective aura and the fire passed to either side of me. I turned my sword in my hand and shoved the blade under my arm mercilessly.

"Not this time, you vile bastard!" I snarled as the demon behind me died on my blade. I twirled around, pulling my sword loose and arcing it down with every ounce of strength I had. It turned out to be more than enough and I cleaved the bottom monster of the demonic duo in half. I sensed something behind me and I pivoted, bringing my sword overhead to finish the next monster off. When this one was dead, I move on to the next. After that, the next. I wouldn't stop until every cursed monster in this area was dead. This wasn't just about rescue anymore. At least, not for me. Now, it was going to be about extermination.

Scorpious rapidly blocked my sword with his own, barring its path toward his face. "This part of the village is clear," he informed me as he lowered his weapon. He cast a pained and grave look toward the corpse of the nameless little girl I'd just killed and then placed his hand on my shoulder for wordless comfort.

"I had to," I choked out in anger and sadness.

"I know. There was no other way," Scorpious assured sympathetically. "You did as you must. Ryelass had to do the same."

I sighed as I looked around, noticing the other members of our group for the first time since we'd entered this hellish place. Ryelass was standing near Alminus, fuming about something. Alminus was just standing there shaking his head grimly; he must have been trying to console him. Vendra and Sovellis were standing next to Xialah, looking around quietly. Cloudyous was tending to a scratch on Sky's side with his animals around him. Piricus was standing in the middle of a bone pile and busy repairing his armor as I would expect. Laurella was, to my surprise, cradling a crying child against her side protectively. She was stroking the boy's hair soothingly and trying to tell him something. The make-shift bandage wrapped around his eyes proclaimed his story without words.

"Was he the only one to survive?" I asked sadly, already knowing the answer before Scorpious spoke it.

"Yes. I've seen to his injuries and he'll live. But he'll be blind for the rest of his life. Those wretched blights plucked out both of his eyes," Scorpious hissed angrily.

"No sign of Jenny?" I inquired, noticing her absence.

Scorpious shook his head. "No. Nothing. Not even a trace, but we're not done here. Xialah says there's still a small sector in the back of this damned inhabitance and that's where I'm going to go!" he declared emotionally.

"You said we got all of the demons out here?" I reiterated.

"Yes. We're moving into the last sector now, are you ready?" he answered.

I nodded resolutely as we made our way to the others. A thought occurred to me as we walked and I had to voice it aloud. "Hey Scorpious, I just remembered that I never thanked you for saving my life on the docks earlier," I recalled.

"I'm sorry, I don't know what you're talking about Chyemme," he admitted earnestly.

"You used your aura, and saved me and Jenny from being flambéed alive," I reminded. "Without you, we'd both be dead."

Scorpious turned to me with an odd expression on his face. "Chyemme, I didn't use an aura over you on the dockside," he informed strangely. "You were already out of the fire when Ryelass and I found you."

I blinked. "You didn't use your aura?" I asked skeptically.

"No," he reaffirmed.

I paused to consider this new information carefully and then shook my head.

"Chyemme?" he asked, noticing my pause.

"It's nothing then. I was probably just in a daze and can't remember what happened clearly. Let's move on," I suggested as we rejoined the others.

"Lead on Xialah," Scorpious said simply as we arrived.

"We'll be at the back, and I'll keep you by my side," Laurella explained to the traumatized child softly.

"They'll… they'll come back! They'll eat me! They'll eat you!" the boy jabbered in terror as he shook from head to toe.

"No they won't," Laurella vowed. "Because I'm tougher than the lot of them combined and I will protect you with my life," she coaxed tenderly. "Nothing will get you while I'm here."

"I'm scared," the boy confessed as he wound his hand tightly in the fabric of Laurella's archery skirt.

"It'll be fine," she continued compassionately.

The boy didn't look inclined to believe her, but he wordlessly allowed her to lead him alongside the group. All of us followed Xialah around more demon huts and carnage until we arrived at a large, stone wall. This wall was too tall to have been made by the rat men; it must have been the remnants of a long-passed human settlement. Several noises were coming from behind it, like before. Xialah gestured to us silently, signaling us to move around it. As we did so, we came across an utterly bizarre scenario.

Present in this twenty feet of cubic space were six shamans and twenty more rat men. The demons were gathered around three large stakes at the back of this space. Large, bubbling cauldrons anchored each stake and a human child was brutally bound against each one with their lower halves submersed in the heated water. Two of them were unknown to me, but the one in the middle was clearly Jenny. The breath caught in my throat when I recognized her and the situation all three were in. I immediately assumed the worst. Fire roared beneath the cauldron on Jenny's right; the boy in the water had been boiled alive as evident by the hideous blistering on his maimed flesh. His feet bobbed grotesquely in the cauldron every few seconds as the demons in front of them chattered obnoxiously.

I reached out with my inner sight, searching for signs of life in this graphic and terrible situation. Relief washed over me as my gifting told me that both Jenny and the girl to her left were still alive. I craned my neck to get a better look and realized that the girl beside Jenny was actually wide-eyed awake, though she appeared to be paralyzed by fear. Jenny herself was slouching against her stake with her eyes closed, although she was still breathing. Oddly, I also noticed that the fires beneath Jenny's cauldron and the one of the girl's next to her weren't lit. It was strange, seeing as one of the shamans kept belching fire onto the kindling beneath the cauldrons and they still wouldn't ignite for more than a second without dying. It was like a non-existent wind was repeatedly extinguishing the demon flame every time one endeavored to light it.

This phenomenon was apparently a source of great agitation to the demons and the cause of their nerve-grating and indecipherable chittering. One of the other shamans was barking at the fire-starting one and it was squeaking back in rapid sequence. It seems like they were having an argument of some sort. Another demon shaman stepped up beside the first and joined in its attempt to light the cauldrons, but even the combined powers of the two failed to start a lasting fire.

"Are they?" Vendra breathed nervously from beside me as she eyed the two girls.

"No, the girls are still alive," I whispered, directed more at Scorpious than Vendra. "Both of them."

Scorpious' entire body visibly proclaimed his relief. "Thank God… Praise God…" he whispered in profound gratitude and he looked briefly through the jungle darkness toward the sky.

"Somehow I think it has less to do with God and more to do with whatever weirdness this is," Xialah snorted quietly as she watched the now three demons try in vain to start a fire. "And I wouldn't bank on whatever it is to last much longer. Everybody with some ranged talent pick a shaman," she suggested. "One, two, three."

We sprang from our concealment behind the wall as though we'd rehearsed it, and for once we had an easy time of things. Piricus quickly threw another weakening curse over the group and then fired off several bolts of corrosive poison, toppling two of the six shamans. Xialah, Vendra, and Sovellis managed to kill ten of the twenty minion demons while Belthem and Sky ran into the fray alongside Ryelass and Alminus, taking care of the rest. Gaia, Bibo, and Cloudyous stayed behind next to Laurella, who took careful aim and fired four icy arrows into the face of a shaman. She swiftly changed her arrows from ice to fire and killed the lower half of the shaman pair by shooting it through the throat.

I threw a lightning javelin that nailed the top demon of another shaman to the stake of the dead boy and watched as Sky jumped on the bottom demon, ferociously tearing out its eyes and then ripping into its chest.

Scorpious made his way over the bodies of the fallen and engaged the last shaman in a brief battle that went much like his last one did. The shaman saw him charge and tried to spew fire into his face, but his aura rendered it ineffective and he cleaved both demons, top and bottom, into four separate sections.

Scorpious didn't pay the deceased demons even a second more of his attention; he raced directly to Jenny's stake and sliced the ropes with the edge of his sword. He took her in his arms as she dropped limply from her bindings and placed her on a clear patch of ground. Beside him, Alminus freed the other child.

Scorpious placed two of his fingers against Jenny's throat, feeling the quality of her pulse. Once he seemed satisfied, he removed thin a bandage from a pouch at his waist and started to dress the bruised and bleeding gouges in her shoulder.

"Clara…How's Clara?" Jenny's strained voice asked, catching Scorpious by surprise. He pulled a little more tightly on her bandage than he'd meant to and she squeaked in pain, although she still didn't open her eyes.

"She's fine. She looks a lot better than you, ya sorry little brat," Xialah answered for him in an almost playful tone of voice as she walked over and knelt beside them.

"Xialah?" Jenny murmured, registering her voice.

"Yeah you little bratlet. It's me. What's wrong with you? Getting grabbed by a demon and making me travel with these losers all the way out here to come get your sorry ass?" Xialah continued, still with that misplaced tone.

"I know. I know. You'd rather be sleeping. Trust me, so would I," Jenny groaned back, although a smile was starting to appear on her bruised lips. "I didn't do this on purpose."

"Bratlet, you get into more trouble I swear," Xialah scoffed, though it was light-hearted.

"Wait," Ryelass began slowly, listening to the off-sounding display. "Are you two related or something? Why in the world would Xialah care enough to come out here after you? She's a heartless bitch."

Jenny coughed and tried to sit up in Scorpious' arms. "Don't say that. It's not true," she protested in Ryelass' general direction.

"Don't lie," Xialah snorted. "You know it's true. I hate everyone equally, except for you. Now quit lying around bratlet. I don't know about you, but you could have picked a much better spot for a stroll," she insisted sarcastically.

"I still don't get it," Ryelass replied watching them.

"You're not meant to, half-pint. Reverend, can't you do anything to speed her up a bit? I'm getting antsy and I want to be back in time for breakfast," she directed at Scorpious.

"Reverend?" Jenny asked strangely.

"Not exactly," he replied. "Jenny, this is Scorpious. Can you open your eyes?"

As if his name were magic, after a few seconds of straining to do so, Jenny's eyes cracked open. She looked directly into Scorpious' face and then a genuine smile did cross her mouth. "I knew you'd come to rescue me," she admitted. "You guys too," she added, catching sight of Piricus and I.

"This had nothing to do with you street-shrimp," Piricus snorted rudely.

"Ignore him. I'm glad we found you, Jenny," I offered kindly, truly meaning what I said.

"Don't scare me like that ever again," Scorpious demanded, though gently, bring her attention back to him. "You're lucky to be alive right now. Can you stand?"

"Luck has nothing to do with it," Jenny insisted. "I'm sorry, but I think I'm too weak to walk right now," she answered, giving her legs a shake from where she lay on the ground. Judging by the amount of pain such a small movement caused her, there was no doubt in my mind somebody was going to have to carry her.

"Then I'll carry you," Scorpious volunteered, not to anyone's surprise. "I'll try to heal you as we return. I don't think I have to ask anybody if they're ready to leave," he finished, looking around.

"No, ya sure as hell don'," Alminus assured, speaking for everyone. He effortlessly lifted the girl, Clara, onto his shoulders. "Hold on tight, I don' want ya ter fall off," he cautioned as she squeezed his massive neck tightly. "There ya go. Tha's a good grip," he assured as he walked over with her.

"Alright. Move it, move it. To hell with this place," Xialah snorted with a last contemptuous look around.

"I don't think we need these auras anymore Scorpious, if you want to start Jenny's healing," Cloudyous suggested as we prepared to leave.

Scorpious nodded and our auras vanished. Moments later, a soft blue light emanated from his skin, wrapping itself solely over Jenny. Scorpious shifted his arms underneath Jenny's back and legs, lifting her carefully into carrying position.

"Now then let's—" he started, but was interrupted by a vengeful and ear-splitting shriek.

My inner sight warned me of this aberrational shaman's presence a second too late. The demons, garbed entirely in a vivid blue grass adorned with glistening red pebbles and full human skulls, raced out from behind what looked like a dilapidated pedestal to the far right of the three stakes. Screaming a full demonic war cry and wielding a peculiar-looking dagger, the shaman lunged after Scorpious and Jenny, spraying deadly fire from its wide mouth.

Calling out a warning would be useless; the two of them were already in its fiery trajectory and had already seen the demon. My heart thundered in my chest as I reached for the last javelin I had, knowing full well that Scorpious didn't have time to change his auras when the attack started. I formed all of my nervous energy into one solid mass of electrical justice and hurled it at the shaman. In a blink of light, the bolt streaked through the foul thing's center and upon impact, sent a branch of lightning down through the head of the demon beneath it. Both components of the unexpected shaman fell to the ground in a smoking heap. The knife the top one held clattered to the ground and bounced to a halt, ending at Sovellis' feet.

"Scorpious! Jenny! Are you two…!" I began, panic forming in my chest as I ran toward them alongside some of the others. To everyone's surprise, both of them were still alive, and physically untouched. What should have been a charring fire hadn't left as much as a scorch on either of them, or even on Scorpious' armor. My paladin friend's face was plastered with a strong sense of shock as he stared down at the girl in his arms. When I realized what was going on, I was taken by surprise too.

Two auras were melding around the pair of them in an array of beaming blues and oranges. Two similar, but distinct spiritual energies were present in the air fueling the respective auras. One was Scorpious', and the other, the one that I recognized as having saved my life earlier, was Jenny's.

"We're… we're fine," Scorpious stuttered after a moment, stunned as Jenny's aura flickered and then dispersed. "Jenny..." he breathed in disbelief. "When did you…?"

"What's going on?" Xialah barked as she shoved her way roughly through to the two of them. "I can't see anything! What the hell just happened?"

"That street-shrimp is also a paladin," Piricus growled above the surprised silence that had gathered over us. The tone in his voice was nasty and when I looked at him, his nose was crunched so tightly against his skin that he could have been smelling swine droppings.

"Well, that's a shocker," Vendra snorted. "Didn't see that one coming."

"That would definitely explain why the demons couldn't light the fire under their cauldrons," Cloudyous added from where he watched at the back of the group. "She's been awake and employing that aura this whole time."

Xialah exhaled a deep, displeased breath as she locked her eyes on Jenny's. "Well," she huffed in an unpleasant voice, "that does explain A LOT."

"Xialah, I'm sorry," Jenny exclaimed miserably. Apparently she knew that this revelation was somehow very upsetting for the mercenary. "I should have told you before. But I didn't want you to—"

Xialah sharply turned away from the paladin duo and stormed off in the direction we'd come without another word.

"Okay, m' confused," Alminus exclaimed bluntly as both he and the girl on his shoulders watched Xialah go.

"You, and everyone else," Ryelass insisted.

Jenny groaned in Scorpious' arms and closed her eyes once more. "Khalim taught me a few months before he died," she answered painfully. "But, I'm not a paladin. I only know this one aura."

"One is all it takes," Piricus spat venomously.

Scorpious let out a deep sigh, expelling the tension he'd repressed until this moment. "Hardly," he replied curtly to Piricus. "Being called of the Order and of God is much, much more than that. We will talk about all this in great detail later. Jenny when you're well enough, I want you to tell me everything. Right now though, we have the children to think about," he finished with the last part directed at us.

"This strange blade," Sovellis remarked from where he stood aloof, examining the thick, triangular dagger that had landed at his feet. "Knife possess strong energy. Very powerful," he repeated as the blade glimmered and cast a blinding wave of purple light over his skin when he touched its edge.

"What do you think it is?" Laurella asked as she watched him, still positioned like a gargoyle over the silent boy at her side. "Do you have any ideas?"

Sovellis squinted in the darkness that followed, scrutinizing the faintly golden dagger. "This…it be old Skatsmi magic. At least I almost completely sure. Fiesty one, what say you?" he asked.

Being that they were connected, I knew Vendra had just experienced the same thing Sovellis did without holding the dagger. "I think you're right Sovellis. I'm pretty sure it's Skatsmi. And what's better, the magic's not tainted. The demons must not have had it for very long, or if they have, the energy is highly resistant to corruption," she affirmed.

"Given those properties, do you think that Hratli or Ormus can use it to renew the enchantment on the dockside?" Cloudyous asked, peering at the blade through the dark.

"There only one way to find out," Sovellis answered, sheathing the dagger carefully in his belt.

"Sorcerer, I'd skip to the finding out part sooner," Piricus growled irritably as he began walking away. "If I don't get some solid sleep soon, I'm just going to blast the whole damn dockside to the tail of Trag 'Oul and be done with it."


	9. Chapter 9

AN: And here, I start to show you who he really is. *manically evil laughter*. As a side note, the timing, as in previous chapters, is off. I realize Khalim died way before the game ever takes place but for this story's purposes, he lived recently. In other news: DIABLO 3! DIABLO 3! DIABLO 3! I just started playing a few days ago and it is epic so far. Anyway, I am going to continue the story as I had originally planned and if Diablo 3 develops in a way the impacts this story I will go back and make changes accordingly at a **MUCH** later date. I intend to continue writing this fic as if nothing had changed, using the knowledge and lore that was available to us up until D3. Case and point, there probably won't be any knew lore in here for a while, so please bear with me like I stated above. Anyway, I hope all of you enjoy!

Disclaimer: I do not own Diablo or Diablo 2. All copyrights are still in effect and property of Blizzard Entertainment.

Whisper of a Dream

Piricus

_Her mirthful laughter echoed all around the hall. It was a strong sound and it was also the most irritating I'd ever heard. The high-pitched, feminine tone grated on my last nerve as I lay there, on my back, against the dusty stone floor. It wasn't long before I was staring up into that sickeningly jovial expression. She leaned over me, placing her hands on her knees innocently._

"_Come on now, is that really the best you can do?" she taunted, though playful. "Are you even trying? That's three times in a row I've put you on your butt, Piricus," she reminded, swiping her wooden dagger toward the floor for emphasis. _

_I groaned as I rolled over onto my side, rubbing my throbbing left shoulder, which was the recipient of her latest strike. "I have absolutely no idea why Lord Rathma ordered me to do this," I grumbled with resentment. "Fighting a girl is beneath me."_

_She burst into another fit of humored giggles. "Oh, okay, I get it. So you're not trying after all? You're just taking it easy on me because I'm a girl and you think I can't handle it?" she snorted between her obnoxiously bubbly laughs. "How noble of you."_

_I brushed the dust off of myself as I returned to my feet. "Exactly. You wouldn't last two seconds if I really wanted to hurt you," I asserted, knowing full and well the words I'd just spoken were lies. This girl was a lit powder keg when it came to one-on-one melee battles and that's exactly why Lord Rathma wanted me to practice with her. No, I reminded myself unpleasantly. This wasn't practice, seeing as she was my superior by far, though I would NEVER admit that fact to ANYONE aloud. Lord Rathma wanted her to TEACH me. Even though this daily, grueling torture was by his order, I detested it. Regardless of her skills, I loathed the notion that a girl was my better in anything. That part, I guess, must have come from growing up with Mirka. But apart from just being a girl, she was an ANNOYING one. She was always so perky and laughed about everything. She was so joyful it made me want to gag every time she opened her mouth._

"_So, you won't mind going another round with me?" she offered in a sugary voice as she retrieved the dagger she'd disarmed from me during our last match. "Can I make a request though?" she added brightly, handing it back to me._

"_What's that?" I muttered, watching her every move carefully even though the bout hadn't started yet._

"_Don't go easy on me please," she requested with a mischievous twinkle in her smoky blue eyes. "I'd feel horrible knowing that you just handed a victory over to me. I'd also feel kinda bad about kicking your butt again. I know my hits have got to be causing you some serious hurt by now," she added, still with her sing-song voice, though it was starting to resound with pity._

_I snatched the training knife from her hand, feeling my temper flare. I loathed pity even more than I abhorred chronic optimism. "Fine," I insisted, gripping the dagger like I'd been taught. "Have it your way, just don't run away crying when you're the one on the ground."_

_She smiled at me then, a genuine gesture of joy. She was beyond elated that I'd opted for another round of combat, slim though my prospects were. She and I circled each other slowly, calculating the others' potential movements. As the moments passed, that blithe look on her face morphed into a crooked, smug grin. She was about to hand my ass to me again, and I knew it._

_Her undaunted confidence coupled with my own frustrations and embarrassment lead me into a rage. I lunged for her, aiming directly for her throat and to stab that infuriating look off her face. Unfortunately for me, she'd chosen to move at precisely the same moment and was already beside me by the time I reached the spot she'd originally occupied. I turned to strike her with the dagger overhead and was instantly rewarded with an agonizingly powerful kick to the gut. The sheer pressure behind her strike knocked the breath out of me, rendering me temporarily dazed. I felt her smooth, small hand grab my wrist as I stumbled. She twisted and turned away from me using her entire body, effectively flipping me headfirst toward the floor. I landed flat on my aching back for what must have been the tenth time already, cursing a string of words at the dumb girl that made her cringe. The dumb girl, that for some damned reason, I couldn't lay a finger on._

"_Well that's not very nice," she snorted lightly, though a brief frown did flit over her lips. "So much for being a gentleman!"_

"_Again!" I hissed, springing to my feet and groping after my dagger on the floor. I looked for my weapon, only to realize that it was currently in her grasp._

"_If I was you, I'd know when to lie down, whelp," called the voice of Nidas as he watched us from the doorway with a thoroughly amused countenance. The arrogant prick was supposed to be watching our matches and giving us advice, but the only thing he ever did was stand there and mock me._

"_That's twelve matches for her, and zero for you. If you keep going, there likely won't be anything left of you," he added snidely._

_My supervisor's contempt of me was hardly a secret and I snarled at him. "I haven't lost to her twelve times!" I spat defiantly._

_He chuckled with belittlement. "Yes that's right. Technically the count is fifteen. And that's just today. You're pathetic," he continued, "You're what, twelve? And you can't even beat a girl two years younger than you? I have no idea why everyone thinks you're such a—"_

"_Nidas that will be more than enough. You're supposed to be encouraging our protégées, remember?" Erion the Elder chided as he came into the room. "I wouldn't feel so bad Piricus," he started as he approached us. "She kicked Nidas' ass yesterday too," he informed, grinning heartily. _

"_How old are you, Nidas?" I snickered with hate. _

"_Old enough that a decrepify curse might make him our age," the girl sassed at him in a taunting tone, though that characteristic grin never left her mouth. _

"_And you can't even beat a little girl?" I sneered, effectively throwing his own words back in his face._

_Nidas gave the pair of us a nasty scowl. "Silence underlings! I'm still superior here," he warned with a growl._

_Erion actually started laughing. "Nidas, the way you're currently conducting yourself would say otherwise. You're dismissed. Lord Rathma has asked me to come and speak to the children for a moment," he informed._

"_Good riddance. I can't stand the sight of these little pukes anyway. I'm a necromancer, not a babysitter," he grumbled with discontent as he stormed out of the training room._

_Erion watched him go and shook his head, though he too was grinning. Turning to my insufferable female training opponent, he ruffled her chestnut hair affectionately. "You my dear, have a skill that will become legend. I've got no doubt we'll be seeing you in our tapestries very soon. It's hard to imagine that a child your age can take on a fully grown man, one of our fighters no less, and win, but we knew the day that you picked up your dagger you'd be deadly," he praised._

"_So she can swing a knife," I growled with contempt. "Big freakin' deal. She's not so special," I added, eyeing her maliciously as every inch of me brimmed with unchecked jealousy. _

_Erion turned me with a soft smile on his aged face. "She'll be in good company," he assured. "I have no doubt you'll be right up there with her. Your abilities, though different, are just as spectacular, Piricus."_

"_Shut it, Erion," I grumbled irreverently, though inwardly I was soaking up his approval. "I'll be the only one up there," I declared as I eyed her. She'd just dropped her guard and had both knives dangling uselessly in one hand. If I acted now…._

_Erion raised one eyebrow. "Oh?" he inquired as I sprang my trap._

_I leapt at her, moving into position behind her. I grabbed her knife-wielding arm in one hand and manipulated it at the elbow so that the wooden daggers were now pressed against her own throat. I simultaneously pulled her other hand against her stomach and pinned it there by pressing across it with my own. She struggled fiercely in my hold, but this time, I had her for sure._

"_I'll be the only one up there," I proclaimed assuredly, "Because today is the day I beat her sorry ass."_

_A sharp pain in my toes told me that my captive did not want to submit idly. I hissed at her and made to draw the training daggers deeper across her throat. I strongly hoped she would choke herself out. The pleasure I'd get from such an occurrence would be immeasurable._

_Instead of immeasurable pleasure, I suddenly encountered tormenting pain. The area around my inner thighs and my manhood screamed in an agony that words or curses couldn't describe. The little bitch had curled her heel under herself, kicking me in the most sensitive spot on my body. I howled in pain; to the furthest depths of reincarnation with my pride. This was a pain I couldn't contain. I vaguely compared this experience to being hit with one of the strongest curses I knew, and even that couldn't compete. The world whipped by as she grabbed my arm and tossed me over her shoulder. The floor that I'd come to know so well greeted me as I graced it with my presence once more. I curled on my side and grasped at my aching testicles. That little bitch…that little bitch…I was going to blast her with the best curse I knew when I got up._

"_Well," she corrected with a cheerful voice as she watched me squirm, "I don't think today's going to be that day after all. I'm tired. I think since Erion said we're done for today, I'll go take a nap. You can try again tomorrow, Piricus. I'm sure you'll have better luck then," she assured with way too much enthusiasm for my liking._

"_Like hell," I snapped viscously from the floor. "Tomorrow I'm going to curse you to oblivion!"_

"_I wouldn't suggest it," Erion replied, watching me with a look of sympathy. "Melee training is an essential part of any necromancer's schooling, a dagger is our signature weapon. If you want to join the ranks of the elite, as I know you both aspire to, then this is something you'll have to master. I'm sure you both know that you can't rely solely on your magic, because there are instances when using it could actually harm you. Knowing how to fight without magic is essential to survival. This is why Lord Rathma sent me to tell you, Piricus, that until you can hold you own against our best," he relayed with a nod toward the girl, "you two will be training all day, every day in this room. She's going to be your teacher and your new best friend until you master your melee studies, so I suggest you treat her accordingly."_

"_How…can he… do this… to me?" I seethed between my gritted teeth. "I'm going to KILL her!"_

"_Just a hint to the young," Erion added comically as he watched my face contort with fury, "People generally treat you better when you are nice to them. Maybe you'll master this training faster if you actually let her teach you, which I'm sure she'll be more than happy to do when you two have made nice."_

"_I… __**NEVER**__!" I screamed with insult and infuriation._

_To my utter rage, Erion burst out laughing. "Lord Rathma said you'd say something like that. You're a stubborn boy. Go take your nap, you're going to need it," he smirked, directed at the girl._

_She looked down over my huddled frame as she walked by, that same, damn smile on her face. So perky, so pesky. "I wouldn't worry too much about it," she assured with her smile. "This is going to be tons of fun."_

_She swept past me into the hall, leaving me there on my side steaming with a rage so strong all I could do was scream her name at the top of my lungs after her as she left. It was the foulest curse in all of reincarnation. "__**SKARLA!"**_

Cold sweat was dripping down from my forehead onto my neck as I bolted upright, wide-eyed awake. I snapped my head around wildly, checking each and every direction, succinctly suspecting that a brutal attack was about to occur from somewhere. My eyes darted restlessly, searching all corners of the darkened space, but after several moments I found nothing. Nothing menacing anyway. The amazon was lying on her stack of crates, snoring lightly despite having half her face pressed into the splintery wood. All the objects that were previously in the room were still present in their immediate locations, and much to my delight and complete necessity, there was no trace of that half-pint paladin anywhere. I scowled and felt my lip curl as I recalled the set of incidences earlier this evening. The brat, which I previously believed to be just a paladin sympathizer, had turned out to be a miniature bible-belcher herself. I'd willingly spent most of last night in the presence of one of the damned zealots and I'd been none the wiser. The very thought of having blindly shared my sleeping space with one…it caused my stomach to churn nauseously.

We'd made the long haul back to the dockside and arrived shortly before what I guessed was the dawning hour in this dismal place. It was hard to tell night from day with such a thick, befouled grey atmosphere everywhere. Night, as I'd observed was only two or three shades different than day. Not that the time of day mattered in the slightest. Be it day or night, there was no way under Trag 'Oul that I was continuing through the wretched, demonic jungle weeds without sleep. The rest of the forsaken fools obviously had needed rest as well, they all scattered without objection.

It had taken considerable convincing on the part of the amazon, but eventually she'd talked me into reoccupying the wretched paladin-girl's sinkhole for the night. True to the amazon's reasoning, this was still the only place that was even partially concealed from the Viz-Jaq'Taar; I hadn't even remotely forgotten about that murderous lot or the knowledge that they liked to cravenly strike at their targets when they were unprepared. Not only that, but it was also the only sleeping space the other members of this ill-fated collection of morons weren't currently occupying. These factors, combined with the knowledge that the girl herself was in the care of the Skatsmi healer being treated for the wounds inflicted by the rat men, made me begrudgingly consent to stay here just one more night. Tomorrow I would be seeking new quarters if I still found myself in this deteriorated pile of rubble. I would sleep on the street before I'd ever spend another night in the home of a paladin, famished little girl or no. Too damn bad…too damn bad. If only I'd have known, I'd have killed her before this whole Trag 'Oul damned chase started. It'd be one less paladin in the world and one less headache.

As I thought of aches, I became aware that almost every single muscle in my body was tightly clenched, as though in anticipation for something. The muscles in my face, my neck, and shoulders were the most prominent culprits and as I reluctantly started to massage them out, I recalled the odd dream and hellish sensation that had awoken me to start with. Strange…this nightmare had been so vivid, and extremely realistic. It even encompassed actual people from my past, like my asinine instructor, Nidas, and Erion, one of our five elders on the Necromantic Council. But the girl…Skarla…I'd never seen her before a day in my life. I'd never seen her, never met her, or even heard of anyone like her within our order and yet she had been as real as the amazon sleeping across from me. My unnerved mind pondered the different probabilities and then eventually settled for the most logical. This bizarre dream was just a nightmare brought on by fatigue, fighting, and my intense desire to return home. The girl had been something my mind just randomly made up. The proof lay in the fact that there was no way I would NOT have killed someone like that girl if she was real. Necromancer or no, I would never have let ANYONE get away with kicking me in the nuts without murdering them in retaliation. What was more, how old had I been in this nightmare? Twelve, I think? I didn't think about my childhood much at all and couldn't recall the last time I'd traveled down memory lane in my conscious thoughts. All in all nothing made sense so I decided to just chalk it off.

After several minutes of rigorous massage, my weary muscles finally started to relax and the tension began to fade. I moved my hand from my shoulder to my wrist, gingerly rubbing the newly-formed scar. Out of all the damned demons and blasted creatures in the world, I'd been scarred by a forsaken frog. A slimy, insect-eating toad had mauled my wrist and marked me… The very thought was almost more of an insult than the damned dream I'd just had. Almost.

I watched the amazon through the darkness as she slept oblivious to everything. Wasn't she the one that made some off-handed remark about it just being a damned frog? I scowled as the memory entered the forefront of my mind. The amazon seemed to possess a talent for attracting the worst kinds of trouble imaginable and somehow, I always managed to be standing around her when it came. Perhaps such occurrences were a result of one of my own miserable giftings. Since the day I'd left home, I'd had absolutely nothing but the WORST of fortunes. Having these accursed situations keep occurring left and right without reprieve could only be attributed to talent. I was seriously beginning to believe I had misfortune down to an art. Or maybe, I continued inwardly, it was a potent combination of the two of us sharing the same few feet of space. Mix together the amazon's ability to draw out every demon or imbecile in a half-world radius AND my unfavorable karma and then perhaps this circle of refuse could start to be explained. Either way, I had a now held yet another serious problem in my hands: the amazon clearly saw my family tattoo. I could no longer deny its presence in front of her or attribute it to hallucinations on her part.

A symbol of my family, the Darkblades, the tattoo is like both a birthmark and birthright. It is unique to my family explicitly, showcasing our superior status within the Priests of Rathma. The tattoos themselves are a work of magic, and a powerful one at that. To magically inscribe such a depiction into not only your skin but your very spiritual essence takes an abnormal amount magical fortitude and therein lays the reason why the mark only became visible when I used abilities far above average level. There are also a few occasions, such as when my body is purging itself of toxins, which will activate my intense spiritual energies involuntarily and cause the mark to appear even if I'm not conscious. Thinking back on all the times the amazon has commented on my tattoo, this has been the case. I've either been incapacitated or unconscious when she's taken notice of it. The emblem normally disappears shortly thereafter once my magic has done what's required of it, leaving most people none the wiser since it's in an unusual spot. Most people, except my _friend_ the amazon….

I don't know what force of fate cursed her with such keen observation skills when it comes to seeing things she's never meant to know existed. But of one thing I'm absolutely sure now: the amazon has become a dangerous liability after she candidly spotted the mark. Any assassin that managed to pull the information from her would know without a doubt what my tattoo signifies. The mark, while a sign of pride and prowess to me, is also like carrying around a permanent inscription of my identity.

Assessing the situation I knew for certain that the amazon would never willingly give over such information to the assassins. She was, for whatever reason, loyal to me under the claim of friendship, and I knew I could rely on this. However there was still the possibility that a mentally gifted Viz-Jaq'Taar, like the one that had been accompanying us previously, could rip it from her mind without her say-so. The actual probability of this was both high and slim, depending on whom they sent or who found out. She'd already been associated with me, and already been attacked as a result. It was only a matter of time before one actually managed to nab her or pick her off. If they managed to pull that mark from her mind life would become increasingly difficult for me.

My eyes locked on the amazon when she emitted a muted sound somewhere between a growl and a pained outcry. Her face visibly scrunched in the darkness as she slept against the wooden crates, and I highly doubted she was dreaming about something pleasant. I watched her for several seconds more, but she didn't make any more unusual noises. I returned to the dark tides of my mind she'd interrupted and after several minutes of mulling these thoughts over I snorted quietly.

These musings were, quite frankly, pointless. Life was already difficult for me regardless of what the amazon knew, and the assassins were likely already hunting me as is. It would only be a matter of time before one of them figured it out, amazon or no. What could her knowledge do, in all reality? Just expedite the process? What was more, all of this hinged on the assumption that the Viz-Jaq'Taar were even interested in her at all. The logical side of my mind reiterated to me that I had absolutely no idea, in truth, who it was that attacked the amazon. The stealthy method of attack and the weaponry highly suggested a Viz-Jaq'Taar, but I had no solid proof and neither did she for that matter. It could have been anyone and until I knew for sure, I shouldn't just assume. A tugging instinct in the back of my mind told me that there was more to this than I was currently seeing. The unidentified assailant tried to murder the amazon and that wouldn't make much sense for an assassin. The amazon wasn't a mage and wasn't the slightest bit corrupt either; she'd never naturally be hunted by them due to their ridiculous code. Add to that the fact the assassins seemed to be trying to gather information and track me down. Killing the amazon before she was questioned would provide them no benefit at all. Maybe I was just so eager to blame the Viz-Jaq'Taar because it would fit my current set of circumstances or because I just abhorred them to the point my bias made me blind. Either way, it didn't matter.

The plain of it was that I needed to do a little digging into what actually transpired and find the culprit. Based on what I discovered, I could then solidly reassess the threat the amazon posed. I shook my head as I felt the muscles in my temples begin to clinch. What a complete pain in the ass. I would have to be the one to investigate, because I couldn't risk the amazon looking into it herself and getting abducted if one really was the perpetrator. If it was truly an assassin that attacked her, then I would have to make a plan from there. If it wasn't, then none of it mattered and I could just proceed like usual. Finding information shouldn't be hard to do; someone in this hole must know something, seeing as the people going in and out of the barrier are closely monitored and only a handful had access to moving in and out of it. A sarcastic smile twitched across my mouth. What better place to start collecting information than with a Viz-Jaq'Taar? Cutting straight to the chase seemed to me the quickest way to find the answer that mattered and the resident assassin here conveniently kept quarters around the metal mage, whom I needed to drop in on anyway. He promised me a teleportation scroll if a new power source was found and judging by the appearance of the dagger the sorcerer found last night, I'd say it had been. Although I wouldn't be using it since I decided to tag along with this hapless band of idiots until they bumbled into Mephisto, I still needed to keep up appearances and having such a scroll on hand definitely couldn't hurt. But, first things first. I was still tired and more sleep was in order.

I laid my head down against the stiff crate and closed my eyes, preparing to drift off to sleep again. I was almost there when the amazon started to twist violently from where slept adjacent to me and snarl. I felt the air and had just enough time to roll onto the floor before she lashed out with her armored foot, kicking determinedly at some dream-opponent that, to my annoyance, occupied my same space. I growled irritably and stood, smacking my head painfully against a high-stacked crate as I did so.

I grabbed the amazons left shoulder after meticulously avoiding a few more haphazard strikes and when I made contact with her armor, her enraged snarls turned into tearful, ragged breaths. I noted as I turned her over and began to shake her roughly awake that she had a tear trickling down the left side of her face.

I wasn't surprised. The amazon had a rough time falling asleep earlier. It took her nearly two hours and that was saying a great deal considering she looked like she was a second shy of dropping to the ground from exhaustion when we returned. Her expressions had been grim all night, far from her usually optimistic self. It surprised me that she hadn't said anything. In fact, for the first time I'd ever experienced, the amazon didn't automatically babble out what was bothering her. Not that she needed to, though. I could read it on her face clearer than any book. Our last escapade into the jungles to save the half-pint paladin had brought us into a rat man village where the vermin were doing what they're famous for: flaying humans. The group fought to save them, but in the end, they were too late for some. I don't think she knew, but I'd watched the amazon end a half-carved girl's life. Judging by the sadness and the rage she'd displayed, and by her distraught mannerisms now, that was clearly the first human life she'd ever taken. She'd hidden her distraught emotions well, she didn't say or do anything out of the ordinary during the return trip here, but I could tell she was clearly perturbed by what had occurred. She'd waited until she thought I was asleep to lament the loss. She'd cried for a few minutes, though I could tell by her broken breaths that she was fighting her own emotions the whole time. She didn't want to break down over it, even when she thought no one else was paying attention, but in the end she'd lost to her sentiments. After mourning briefly, she'd settled into whatever sleep she was currently experiencing.

I have no idea why this was so upsetting to her. The girl was a hopeless torture victim, not some innocent child frolicking in a field of flowers minding her own business. And it's not like she murdered the brat in cold blood either. In my eyes, she actually did the girl a kindness. The amazon knew full and well the kid was beyond saving. Killing her and ending her suffering was the best course of action the amazon could have taken. I doubt any person in Sanctuary, even the brat's parents if they're still alive, could have faulted her for her actions. It couldn't be the notion of inflicting harm that plagued the amazon either; she's killed hundreds of demons by now in extremely violent manners and has never had the slightest problem with it. She killed corrupted rogues without an issue either and they were once human. Not to mention she's been in brawls with other humans before too. Remorse was pointless. Say for a moment that even if she had saved the girl by some ass-backwards fluke of Trag 'Oul, what type of life would that brat have lived? Lame and unable to take care of herself, I highly doubt that anyone else here would have done it for her, even her parents, assuming she still had them. Most of the people here are on the verge of insanity and can't do much more than scrape slime to keep themselves alive anyway. The girl would have likely died soon after she left the amazon's watch. Life and the cycle of being have a way of weeding out the weak. It's as natural as the earth the druid likes to worship. Saving her would have been pointless and a waste of time, effort, and resource. The amazon likely knows all this and still, she cried over it like a child when she thought I wasn't awake. Like I said, I don't get it at all. Maybe it's a woman thing.

"Wake up amazon!" I demanded irritably after ducking one last attempted punch at my face. "Your thrashing is going to collapse this whole accursed space on top of me!"

She heard my voice and after a few more seconds, she went still in my grasp and opened her eyes. She stiffly pressed her back against the crates she was laying on and exhaled a deep breath. Seeing that she was awake, and I relinquished my hold on her with a displeased sigh of my own.

"What time is it?" she asked in a worn voice without looking at me.

"Time for you to stop lamenting a girl you couldn't save like a bleeding-heart fool," I shot back snappishly. I was feeling more than a little cranky seeing as my own nightmares deprived me of restful sleep as well.

The amazon closed her eyes and for a moment, remained silent. "Is it that obvious?" she breathed at last.

"No amazon, I just formulated a lucky guess," I retorted snidely.

"You're right," she admitted, staring blankly up at the dark ceiling of the wine cellar. "I did everything I could to save her. Killing her was the right thing to do." Although she admitted the fact aloud, there was still a rueful tone in her voice.

"People die every day amazon. Including children. Get over it," I insisted with irritation. "If you're just going to mourn like some witless puppy then perhaps you'd better not get out of bed. Moping around uselessly will get you killed," I reminded icily.

She grinned, though it was brief. "According to you, everything will get me killed," she answered sarcastically. "I can see you're going to be a downright ray of sunshine today," she continued. "You didn't sleep well either, I take it?"

I rolled my eyes and snorted. "Amazon, with the way you were carrying on, it'd be a wonder if anything in the deepest level of reincarnation got to rest."

"Somehow, I think when you're around, nothing sleeps, especially if it's dead," she pointed out, returning to her normal demeanor somewhat. "What now? You never did answer my question. I'm assuming you've been up longer than me. What time is it?"

"How should I know?" I grumbled. "This pit tells time in shades of gray and evil, neither of which are on my timetable."

"Then I guess there's only one way to find out," the amazon informed with a sigh as she sat up and stretched her arms what little distance she could in the confined space. She stood and readjusted her armor and as she opened the hatch of the wine cellar. I noticed she kept one hand on the hilt of her crystal sword as she did so.

Dull, gray light that closely resembled fog drifted into the already dim space. The amazon sniffed the air, reminding me a moment of one the druid's mutts, and then remarked in a nonchalant manner, "It's about eleven in the morning hours."

I raised an eyebrow. "And since when did your nostrils determine the time? That mist must be infusing your brain amazon if you're mixing your identity in with that of a mutt."

"I can tell by the smell of the Chicada Trees. They grow in jungle regions and we have a lot of them back home on Skovas. They give off a certain smell, like rainwater in the early morning and as the day progresses into afternoon the smell changes. The switch occurs most prominently around noon. Chicada Trees have a distinct smell to their leaves, and I can smell them now, but there's still an edge of water to it," she explained.

"Amazon, the only things I smell are demons and dirt," I informed briskly as I made my way past her into the daylight. "And now I'm smelling imbecile," I growled as I saw the warrior making his way toward us from around the tavern.

He greeted the sight of me with a characteristic scowl, and somehow molded that expression into a sickeningly sweet smile when he saw the amazon. I could tell that seeing the two of us together was agitating him; his jaw twitched as he eyed me every couple of seconds.

Seeing the short sword-slinger was enough to sour what little neutral disposition I had. When he opened his mouth, my mood went south simultaneously.

"Good morning Chyemme," he offered to her politely as he ignored me altogether.

"Hi Ryelass," she replied courteously, although I could tell she was on the edge of agitation with just his one sentence. "Where is everybody?" she continued.

"Gathered for a meeting with Elder Cain. He has something important to tell all of us. He sent me here to find you," the warrior answered directly. "Follow me," he added, though with a show of good manners toward her.

The amazon gave me an inquiring glance that clearly asked if I was coming along. The only response I gave was to start walking alongside her. When we reached the outskirts of the town square, I vaguely thought of diverting my course and visiting the metal mage like I'd planned earlier. I was in no mood to listen to the morning ramblings of the aged, but since I was already here anyway I decided to stay and listen.

When we arrived, the others were already assembled and seated at varying places around the skatskimi pyramid. The sage was on the bottom step, leaning heavily on his withered walking stick for support. Beside him was the skatsimi mage. I caught sight of something bright glimmering in the monotone atmosphere behind him and immediately felt the presence of a strong magic. As I positioned myself for a better look, I recognized the unusual dagger from yesterday. The triangular weapon was floating suspended within a dome of shimmering, violet energy. Every few minutes, a brilliant wave of white light would spark along the entire dagger before rippling out in all directions inside the circle. The waves of energy were contained as they hit the walls of the magical sphere; however I noted that the energy seemed to be building along the edges as it made impact. A subtle lavender-colored light was permeating off of the charged sphere into the general environment and was only visible for about four feet before it disappeared. I couldn't see the light anymore, but I could distinctly feel its powerful presence. It didn't take a genius to figure out that the demon barrier had been restored, and that dagger was the new power source.

The skatsmi mage acknowledged our arrival aloud. "The amazon and necromancer have arrived. Ormus believes that all are gathered. Speak now, revered sage and let Ormus and those around you hear of your wisdom."

The sage nodded to him with mutual respect. "My friends, I'm afraid that the tidings I bring are most grim," he began slowly. "And I fear the situation at hand has already caused some of you great distress and is impacting some of you more than others." There was nothing subtle about the glance the old man directed at the paladin, whom in my opinion, had never looked more worn down and vulnerable than he did right now. "Lord Scorpious are you sure you wish to hear such information for a second time? I worry for your well-being," the old man admitted without a shred of reluctance.

The insufferable zealot was sitting cross-legged on the filthy ground, struggling to hold his tension-lined face up. His armor was in a state of disarray such as I had never witnessed from him; some of the straps were undone and hanging discordantly across each other in tangles that caused a few of the adjoined plates to slouch off his body while pulling others into clearly uncomfortable positions against his skin. The blood from last night's battles and healings, both human and demon, still caked his normally pristine, gleaming silver plates and there was a gruff layer of stubble on the paladin's usually clean-shaven chin. His entire body seemed to be slumped in a defeatist position, giving him the appearance of someone who'd aged thirty years in the span of one night. Simply put, he looked like hell.

The lids of the paladin's eyes half-closed and he nodded wordlessly, giving the sage an unspoken and rueful permission to proceed. How he'd heard whatever news the sage was telling us now beforehand I didn't know, but judging by the paladin's countenance as the old man started to speak, it was going to be news I wouldn't receive well either.

"As you all know, our arrival here in Kurast sparked quite a serious riot and shortly thereafter left us all with a plethora of unanswered questions. I know for certain I'm not the only one wanting after an explanation for the disintegration of this once great city, the unfathomable corruption of seemingly the entire Zakarum Order, the failing wards of the mages here, and not to mention the just plain foul look and feel of this place and the people within. I have spent all of the last day, both sun and moon since our arrival, pouring over my Horadric texts and consulting with the various townsfolk who have retained their sanity. Their experiences as well as accounts from Natalya, Asheara, Hratli, and Ormus concerning the recent history of this place match perfectly with what I've been able to discern from the prophecies within the ancient texts. My friends, you must never forget that your ultimate purpose here in Kurast is to destroy Mephisto and stop the three from reuniting. And it is on this matter that I will now speak," the sage announced gravely.

"According to legend, the ancient Horadrim imprisoned Mephisto inside a building known as the Guardian Tower. This tower with its dark and deadly captive was then placed under the protection of the Order of Zakarum and thus, the temple city of Travincal sprang up around it to house the steward paladins. Over time, the truth of the Guardian Tower became forgotten to all but a few privileged members of the Zakarum High Council as the city transitioned from a place of vigilance into a center for holy knowledge and training. Eventually, the Zakarum even went so far as to make Travincal their permanent base of operations and the day to day activities of the Order consumed and then masked their sacred duty. Know this friends—there is only one way to gain access into the Guardian Tower where Mephisto resides and the key to entry explains much. The only way to gain entry is to destroy the artifact known as the Compelling Orb. My research shows that this ancient device has been housed throughout the ages in the Halls of the High Council and it was with this very sphere that Mephisto has been able to spread his evil. Over time, while the order's awareness of him lay mostly dormant, Mephisto corrupted the Orb and then used it as a channel for the same wretched energy that it was supposed to lock away. By this means, the Lord of Hatred was able to corrupt and control all of the Zakarum priests and their followers," he explained.

"So, you're saying that the demon managed to manipulate a crystal that was supposed to be holy and then used the very thing that was keeping it locked away to reach out and ensnare others? " the sorceress recapped, taking in what the sage had said so far with a manner of frustration.

"And demon take control of all Zakarum?" the sorcerer added in quiet revulsion.

The sage nodded. "Unfortunately, that is where the evidence points as of now."

"Somehow m' thinkin' tha' maybe we 'ought not be puttin' so much trust in ancient objects. They seem ter be failin' all over tha place," the barbarian contributed with both verity and sarcasm. "Elder Cain is there any way ter destroy tha' thing? M' getting' tha feelin' it's not goin' ter be simple. I can't hit it with m' axe n' jus' be done with it, can I?" he furthered with a heavy sigh.

The old man shook his head. "No my dear Alminus I'm afraid it won't be that easy."

"Why should it be?" the warrior grumbled in irritation. "Nothing for us ever is."

"I should think that's actually for our benefit, even though this makes as our situation more difficult," the druid interrupted briefly as he stroked his grey mutt behind the ears. "If the ancient seals of the Prime Evils were that easy to break, then we'd have all perished by now for sure. The Horadrim weren't fools. They were under the guidance of heaven and they wanted to make certain that the evils they sealed away weren't ever going to resurface if they could help it."

"A valid point, Lord Cloudyous," the sage acknowledged with a stout nod. "Getting back to your question Alminus, I know of only one way in which the Compelling Orb can be destroyed. You must use an ancient Horadric flail that has been imbued with the spirit of an incorruptible priest."

"And where exactly am I to find one of those, old man?" I snorted sarcastically feeling a great impatience wash over me. "In case you haven't noticed, _ALL_ of the bastard gospel-grovellers took a fall from their imaginary grace."

"I understand your concerns Piricus, but it seems that fate has smiled upon us for once, if only brief," he continued.

"I don't call what happened to be fortune at all!" the paladin suddenly growled in a mixture of torment and rage as he fidgeted restlessly on the ground. I could sense the emotions storming within the man and they were powerful enough to give his sluggish frame life again. "Khalim was the best man I ever knew, and he NEVER deserved such a perverse fate! Even to aid divinity! Those abominations butchered him and ripped him into pieces because he wouldn't serve their foul demon Lord! Tell me how the death of such a noble man and the eternal damnation of everyone in the old order can be something to smile about!" he seethed sourly.

"N'body's smilin' Scorpious. Calm down," the barbarian consoled, speaking for the majority of the philanthropist fools present. Hearing the paladin's emotional outburst had brought an uneasy silence over them.

"I take it that you knew this man?" the rogue asked, though her voice when she spoke contained less petulance than she normally displayed as of late. "Didn't the girl we rescued yesterday say something about him too?"

"She did," the amazon agreed, though when she spoke the rogue shot her a feisty glare full of loathing. "Scorpious, did you have a chance to talk to Jenny last night?" she continued, inquiring of the paladin.

The disheveled paladin sighed heavily without returning her gaze. His eyes maintained their lock on the ground in front of him as he answered in a weary voice. "Yes, I did. She and I spoke for the hours she was able to remain awake. She had more she wanted to say, I think, but her injuries coupled with last night's hellish experience took their toll on her vitality. I insisted that she rest before I'd hear any more. Elder Cain used the information I learned from her for the final piece of this damned puzzle," he admitted with more than a hint of reluctant bitterness.

"Yes, yes," I remarked snidely, "Some once-proud spirit-spewer kicked the bucket. I got that part already. In fact, I knew this information before it ever hit the paladin's ears. I grow tired of hearing you sorry fools repeat yourselves. Sage, get to the part where this paladin's death does something more than simply elevate my mood and make on less inquisitorial imbecile in the world."

The hiss that escaped the paladin's throat was entirely audible, and so was his fiery rebuke of my last statement. "Bite your tongue!" he demanded in unchecked anger as the sentiment flashed behind his fatigued eyes. "I've been tolerant of your irreverent, blasphemous, and downright asinine behavior since I met you, but by God my patience with you is wearing thin! You insult my God, insult men and women who are worth ten of what you'll ever be, belittle me constantly, and now you rejoice over the death of the man that was like my father! There's only so much I'm willing to take and you are dangerously close to crossing that line! Therefore I'm only going to tell you one more time to silence yourself this instant or else," he threatened ominously.

I raised an eyebrow. "Temper, temper paladin. That actually sounded like a threat. Wouldn't want you to engage in any deadly sins now would we? They say rage is a real killer," I retorted satirically, unimpressed by his threats of bodily harm. I took this fool on once already; I could do it again without an issue and this time I might actually finish him, seeing as the assassin was no longer around to aid him directly or indirectly.

"You ought to know," he spat sourly, giving me a cryptic reminder that he knew my true identity. The remark in and of itself was nothing, but when the paladin glanced between me and the amazon I felt my own lips twist into a snarl that mirrored his. That was the real threat, right there. He might as well have said it aloud; the paladin just made it plain he would tell her, and my guess was everyone else as well, about the truth behind the Emerald Prince if I didn't lay off the memory of his dead daddy-figure.

I could feel my ire for the man brew through to the surface of my skin. For a brief instant, I considered provoking him into spilling the secret just for spite. Nobody threatens me, and especially not with my own secrets. My pride blatantly told me to say whatever the hell I wanted to like I always have; it said to hell with what the consequences would be. But then, like before when I was surrounded by dozens of assassins in Lut Gholeign, reason won out over rage and pride. I hadn't faced Mephisto yet. I wasn't even close and the untimely revelation of my secret could cost me my vengeance. I doubt the amazon would do anything contrary to my safety, but the rest of these maggots might try something. I'd already deduced long ago that it wasn't advisable to take them all on at once, and that notion had only grown with solidarity as time passed. Not to mention even if I did manage to best all of them, that still left a town full of crazed peasants, two powerful magi, the mercenaries, and the damned Viz-Jaq'Taar taking up residence here. No. In this case, pride would cost me dearly. I wanted Mephisto's head immeasurably more than I wanted to insult the pompous Order of Zakarum. However, I still had a dilemma on my hands. The others couldn't see me back down to the paladin or I'd lose face and that wasn't something I would allow for. Luckily, I was spared a response by the sorceress.

"Wow, jackass. You've reached an all-time low," she sneered at me before giving the paladin a sympathetic glance. "You want me to freeze his tongue to the roof of his mouth?" she added with a glower.

The paladin's sigh turned into a displeased growl halfway, though it was directed at me. "While I think that would give me some manner of momentary peace, the end result would still be the same. Save your energy Vendra. We've interrupted Elder Cain and as per usual, he was in the middle of telling us something we need to hear."

"I understand this is a touchy subject, Scorpious. My heart grieves for your loss as well," the amazon consoled genuinely. "He seemed like a good man. Jenny told Piricus and I about Khalim and how close you two were. But I think that if he were here right now, Khalim would tell you his memory is better defended by making sure the monsters that murdered him are brought to justice and that the people here are protected from Mephisto's evil. He struck me as the type of man who didn't worry so much about idle words or insults. He seemed to be a lot like you," she said stoutly.

The paladin's armored shoulders sagged considerably as he listened to her words. "You have that backwards, Chyemme. I'm a lot like him. Almost everything I have, including my very life, I owed to him. But, you're right. I'm acting poorly and my behavior isn't reflecting well on what he taught me."

"Careful paladin," I responded icily. "This isn't an isolated incident. Your mannerisms have been slipping since we arrived."

"In case you haven't noticed, Piricus, since the moment I arrived, my whole world fell down around my ears. I was attacked the second I set foot in this place because of my faith and I put all my friends in danger because of it. I found out in the span of one day that Khalim, the man I admired and loved most in Sanctuary, is not only dead but was brutally murdered by the other members of the Zakarum council. I've discovered that the entire first Order of Zakarum, council and otherwise-many of whom were once my close friends mind you-have turned into demons and are now murdering innocents. We've discovered that all of this was the work of the Lord of Hatred himself, and that the Lord of Terror was here not even a full day ago. He got away from us and is one step closer to reuniting with his brother and we still have no clue where Baal is either. Not to mention, on top of that, demons broke through the barrier, kidnapped seven children, and killed four of them before we could save them. Then I'm informed by Jenny that her brother, another person precious to me, was also murdered by a member of the council. Add to that the fact that we're not even close to Travincal, we're running out of time to stop the three and that I'm-!" the paladin ranted, cutting himself off abruptly.

I knew what he had been about to say when his expression became pained. The bleeding-hearted fool almost admitted to everyone that he was dying. Those gathered had become increasingly still as they listened to the paladin lament his situation and for a moment, no one spoke.

"Anyway," he added after pausing to take a deep breath, "I should think I've got the right to be upset, wouldn't you agree Piricus?"

"Tell your troubles to someone who cares," I snapped with venom. "You've wasted enough of my time. Sage, continue with what it was you were about to say. I believe it was of far more import than the paladin's woeful whining," I demanded, turning to the old man, who had become stony silent when this verbal exchange began.

The old man looked once more to the paladin, whom nodded, though grimly as he leaned his back against a pile of broken stone and closed his eyes.

"Lord Scorpious," he began apologetically, "I did not mean to imply that Khalim's death was pleasing in any sense. I merely meant to say that, as tragic as this is, we now have a way in which we can strike back at Mephisto and possibly save some of the fallen Zakarumites. Getting back to destroying the Compelling Orb and the accompanying history for those of you who don't already know: It seems that all of the Zakarum in Travincal were turned to Mephisto's dark ways, save one—Khalim, the Que-Hegan of the High Council. After failing to influence Khalim through the Compelling Orb or the snake-like words of his corrupted collegues, Mephisto directed the other Council priests to slay and dismember Khalim and then scatter his remains across the kingdom. The Priest Sankekur then succeeded Khalim as Que-Hegan, eventually becoming the embodiment of Mephisto here on the mortal plane. You already know of how Mephisto used the Compelling Orb to corrupt the priesthood, but after his hold on them was complete, it seems he had the members of the council use the orb to conceal his lair from mortals as well. If you ask me, I think he might have somehow known that all of you were coming…" the sage trailed off in ominous speculation.

"But that is besides the point. Your task now is to collect the scattered relics of Khalim—his heart, his brain, and his eye. As odd as this might seem, even though Khalim himself is no longer alive, vital pieces of his spiritual essence are likely to still reside in the disjoined parts of his body. You must find them, my friends, and when you do, you must bring them here and then use the Horadric Cube to transmute Khalim's flail with his relics. Once this is accomplished, you must destroy the Compelling Orb with Khalim's Will to open the way into the corrupt sanctum of Mephisto. Then and only then, can you end this debacle once and for all," he finished seriously.

"The Horadric Cube?" the warrior asked curiously. "What happened to it? I haven't seen it since Lut Gholeign."

The sorcerer smiled sheepishly. "Well, I keep safe while we travel."

The sorceress snorted with amusement. "Don't lie. You spent most of the voyage playing with it. I seriously thought you were going to cause an explosion that would sink the whole ship at one point."

"Don't say things like that," the druid chuckled lightly. "That's probably information we were better off not knowing."

"Ah feisty one, you no say what I accomplish. I learn many things from cube with trial and error. I discover cube combine things. It combine gems and potions and make better than before," the sorcerer replied in his defense.

"It transmutes things other than Horadric artifacts?" the amazon asked in interest.

"Yes," the sorcerer replied. "Some think me to be very useful."

"Well that's all well and good," the rogue grumbled, "but until we find the relics of Khalim we have other things to discuss. Elder Cain, did your research give you any clue as to the location of the relics?"

The sage turned to the skatsimi mage beside him. "I believe Ormus might now where to find them. His talents seem to be of more use than my books in this instance."

The skatsimi mage placed a bronzy hand on the old man's shoulder. "Elder Cain does not do himself justice; however Ormus may indeed know where such relics lie. Ormus has watched the Zakarum demons in his meditations. The demons argued with themselves…they showed Ormus great fear over several objects that displeased their master. Ormus believes Mephisto knows they can be used against him. The demons took these objects to three places, though Ormus cannot be sure where exactly they lie therein. The first they took to the Spider Caverns, the second to the Flayer Dungeons, and third Ormus believes they hid in the old sewers under the Kurast Bazaar."

"What about the flail?" the warrior reminded once the skatsimi mage had finished.

"Ormus believes that the Horadric flail of Khalim is where it has always been. In his room in Travincal."

To this, the paladin responded with affirmation. "I think you're right, Ormus. I remember seeing the flail in Khalim's chambers. He always kept in a special chest to the side of his bed. He showed it to me once when I was learning about the Horadrim for the first time. He said it was a gift bequeathed to our Order long ago by them and the Que-Hegan was responsible for watching over it. Khalim also told me that it contained great power but he'd never use it unless there was a dire need. He said it was a power from the heavens that few could hope to understand and fewer still were worthy to wield."

"Any chance the demons have already got their hands on it, seeing as they're already set up in Travincal?" the rogue asked pointedly.

"Not likely," the paladin answered. "Nobody but the Que-Hegan has the spell to unlock the chest and I knew Sankekur. He was dumber than a collection of rocks in a dunce cap. The council likely maneuvered him into Khalim's position," he growled sourly, "so they could control him and give Mephisto someone easy to overtake that wouldn't ask too many questions. Not to mention that the spell is only passed down to the rightful Que-Hegan and that is someone the current Que-Hegan would choose his or herself when the time came. Khalim probably left his successor in a letter that was lost somewhere or destroyed when the demons came into power. The person in it probably never got the message so it's entirely likely that the secret died with Khalim. And if the demons fear the object, I don't think they'd go looking for it. They'll likely leave it where it was and forget about it," he surmised.

"Well, 'ere's ter hopin'," the barbarian snorted.

"Well, that answers that," the amazon agreed, "but does anybody know how to get to these other places? Scorpious are they familiar to you?" she asked the paladin.

The paladin shook his head. "Not all of them. I know where the Kurast Bazaar used to be, but they have an enormous collection of sewer systems. I have no idea where the Flayer Dungeon or Spider Caverns are, those must be local names."

"Well, where's Xialah?" the sorceress asked keenly. "Isn't she supposed to be our guide? You did pay her for more than one day, didn't you Cloudyous?"

The druid nodded, but a frown crossed his face. "I paid her for a week of service, but when I spoke to her a few hours ago she was very dismissive and said she has something else to do right now and that she'll be unavailable for the next few days. She said she'd catch up to us if we left the docks between now and then."

"That's beyond pathetic, druid," I scoffed becoming severely irritated. "You paid that bitch to do a job and you let her walk all over you like she owns your sorry ass."

"Did she give a reason 'y she ain't comin'?" the barbarian furthered. "'cause m' inclined ter agree with Piricus fur once. Her attitude was bad 'nough, but ter walk out on a job she's been paid ter do already? Somethin' ain't righ' 'bout that at all."

The druid shrugged. "Well part of the contract did state that as an Iron Wolf, Xialah's primary duties with them take priority over independent jobs. You know, due to the security of the dockside, since they're the ones protecting this place right now? It did say that any and all other services could be halted in that regard," he admitted.

"Yeah, but that doesn't make any sense," the sorceress pointed out. "Because we just gave Hratli a new power source yesterday and Sovellis and I helped him restore the barrier last night. If anything this place should be safer now and they shouldn't need as many people."

"I'm with Alminus," the amazon remarked with an impatient expression of her own. "Did she actually spell it out for you and give you a reason, or did she just say something to the effect of 'just because'?"

"She said that her business was her own," the druid replied simply. "I honestly didn't expect anything else, or press her any further about it. She told me to see Asheara if I needed someone this instant."

"Well, did you?" the rogue asked, starting to tap her foot against the ground restlessly.

"Of course," the druid answered, slightly insulted. "The problem is that she doesn't have anyone else available."

"You're joking, right?" the warrior shot at him in disbelief. "Did Asheara give you her alibi at least? I don't have to remind you that it wasn't just your gold that was spent. Most of us pitched in to offset the huge cost of paying her and I will hunt her down myself unless someone can explain why she's not here when she's under contract and already been paid in advance."

"Asheara didn't really have anything to say either—look don't get cross with me, I don't pry into other people's business and especially not with people like Xialah. I'm not sure I want to know what she's up to. Her demeanor might very well scare an angry wolverine away," the druid protested as the group glowered at him disapprovingly. His two mutts noticed our expressions and tensely took to standing beside the druid and eyeing us down. The bear behind him rumbled an indistinct warning, though it didn't move an inch from where it lay behind him.

"At least she apologized and refunded some of our gold. She also gave me her own personal map of the region for compensation," he explained, pulling the paper from within his fur-lined armor. "It has the location of the Flayer Dungeon marked here," he added, pointing to a spot on the map for us to see.

"That's where we were yesterday night," the rogue observed briskly. "I remember the way we took too. I can lead us back with no problem," she proclaimed with confidence.

"Does the map say anything about the Spider Caverns?" the warrior asked, ignoring the rogue.

The druid shook his head once more. "No, but I have a good idea where they might be," he insisted. "The river we fought the demon frogs in yesterday had an alternating current and that was due to a very peculiar ore found in its bed. However, in order for a polarity to reverse that quickly and that powerfully, there have to be primary sources nearby. Think of it as the ends of a magnet, and such a quantity of ore only forms underground in caverns. I can follow the earth energies in the river to the source and likely that will be where we need to go," he offered.

"But you couldn't say for sure? It could turn out to be a big waste of time then, considering how many caverns are likely to be in this place?" the warrior chided.

"This is a jungle region, all the plants here have deep roots and the soil is loose, not rocky. Caverns are not something you'll find lots of in this region and Asheara was adamant that there were only two of them in this entire area. Add to this the fact that she told me she's seen a few giant spiders down south, I'm sure we'd be headed in the right direction," he reemphasized, and strangely, a slight blush crept onto his face.

"You look like you might be a little surer than you claim," the amazon remarked, taking notice of the subliminal redness on the druid's face. "What happened?"

"Asheara wasn't inclined to let this map go easily, seeing as it took years for her to compile. Don't ask me what I had to do to get it," he informed with embarrassment. "Anyway, I got her talking about the wildlife of the region and when she started telling me about the spiders she saw in the area, she told me they have a very distinct feature. They spew fire, and let me tell you for an arachnid that's not natural unless they ingest a certain type of ore, which consequently is the same stuff in the riverbed. And, spiders are normally solitary predators, regardless of size. The numbers she saw around the area suggest that something is drawing them together and it's not mating season. Spiders usually mate mid-winter and we're currently in early summer. Seeing as every other time animals congregate unnaturally the underlying cause has been an object of great energy, I would suspect that this instance would be no different," he concluded.

"I must ask. What you do for map?" the sorcerer blurted, grinning at the awkwardness written on the druid's face.

"I spent an evening in Asheara's company, it seems she's taken a liking to me for whatever reason," he sighed with reluctance.

"And how you spend evening?" the sorcerer continued with humor.

"I really don't want to discuss this," the druid grumbled as his face flushed once more. "But trust me when I say I'd much rather have spent the time letting Bibo groom my beard and it really irritates me when she does that."

As if the beast understood what he'd said, the bird gave the druid a loud and displeased squawk before it pecked him sharply on the top of his head in retaliation.

The druid moved his hand to rub the area with an outcry of pain. "Okay, I get it. You're insulted. Trust me so was I. Anyway," he insisted, trying desperately to change the subject, "let's just go and see."

It took me a moment to realize that the skatsimi mage was laughing.

"What's so funny?" the druid asked, still gingerly massaging the spot where his animal had attacked him.

"Ormus laughs because Ormus knows where this place is found. All young druid had to do was ask another," he responded. "But young druid is correct. The Spider Caverns are where he suspects they are."

A wave of laughter passed through the group, minus myself and the paladin. Enough of this chatter. It was time for action. "I'm cutting to the chase fools," I snapped. "Seeing as the rogue's not the only one with half a memory, I'll be back when I have the paladin's relic."

"Which one are you going after?" the amazon asked before I could turn around. "The relic in the Flayer Dungeon?"

"That would be correct amazon, seeing as I'm above a common exterminator. Spiders are beneath me, however knowing you lot, you'll all still be here by the time I get back and I'll end up taking care of that mess too," I replied plainly.

We had been standing around way too long for my liking and one of my feet had actually fallen asleep while I stood there inactive. I crunched the toes of my right foot against the insides of my leather boot, willing my tactile senses to return.

"I'll go with you," the amazon offered me, not to my surprise.

"Hang on a second," the warrior insisted. "Shouldn't we all go together?"

The irritation on the amazon's face was clear when she answered him. "Actually, I think we should split up. It makes more sense. These two locations are in opposite directions from each other but roughly the same distance from the docks if the map is correct. If we split up we'll probably save a lot of time. And time," she reminded him with a serious demeanor, "is something we don't have a lot of."

The warrior responded with the first practical words I'd ever heard from him. "You're right. The most logical thing to do would be to send Sovellis with one group and Vendra with the other, so they can keep us all connected in case something goes horribly wrong. Cloudyous knows the most about spiders so he needs to go into the caverns. Scorpious will need to protect the group going into the Flayer Dungeon in case there are more of those shamans around. Laurella and Alminus can go with Cloudyous and his team and you and I, Chyemme, should go with Scorpious'," the warrior suggested. "And you," the warrior added, glowering at me with antipathy, "should probably go with us as well. You might be some use against the rat men."

I chuckled darkly, hearing his pathetic statement. "You have that backwards, midget man. I'll be the one that carries this pitiful band. Without me, the lot of you would have had hell dealing with those fire-belching furballs last night," I declared, being blunt. It was the truth. My weakening curses were the deciding factor in killing those miniature menaces quickly. Without my talents, those morons would likely have still been out there fighting even now.

"We'll see about that," the warrior growled. "I bet you probably couldn't land even a single blow on anything without magic," he insisted. "You're the one who's pathetic."

For the first time ever, the warrior's words struck a notable nerve. Not a moment after he'd said his last sentence, an image of the brown-haired girl from my nightmare flickered across my mind. I felt my muscles tighten irritably; for some unknown reason, his words connected my consciousness to the nightmare I was so determined to dismiss. Why had it returned to the forefront of my mind so easily? I'd decided to just forget about it. Nevertheless, the warrior's sentence about me being useless without magic brought the whole dream back to life. I started to hear the girl's damnable laughter ring in my ears as if such a person actually existed right beside me and I felt an ache in my back like I'd just been launched onto the stone beneath my feet.

"What's wrong?" the amazon asked me, seeing the disconcerted expression I knew had momentarily gained. I scowled and swept ahead of the group, cursing myself for being caught off guard like that.

"He knows I'm right," the warrior exclaimed with a smug grin. "He wouldn't be anything without his damned magic."

"Hardly," I countered him with ice in my voice. "In fact, why don't you and I make a deal short-round? Since I have to stomach you in my presence for the time being, I might as well demonstrate that I'm your superior in everything, including melee combat. I won't fight with magic until the paladin's relic is recovered and neither will you. Fight as you always have, and then I'll let you see how inadequate you really are," I suggested nonchalantly.

Even though my voice was even, my insides were brewing with fury. For some reason, I had an inexplicable urge to challenge the warrior in this and actually go through with it regardless of how much longer it would take me to deal with any demons that got in the way. Though irked, after a moment, my rational mind questioned my judgment. Just what was this about? Since when did I give a damn about anything this wretch ever said to me, insult or otherwise? Why then did his taunts start to affect me now? Nothing remarkable had changed about our relationship or situation. I still considered the warrior like an ant underneath my boot. Just what had gotten into me? The warrior actually laughed at me and then nodded.

"Deal. I'll win this contest hands-down and shut you up. Watching you fail miserably is going to make me laugh. But just remember not to die on your first opponent, Piricus. That wouldn't be much fun at all," he sneered at me.

"We don't have time for this," the paladin rebuked after his long period of silence as he made to stand. "The plan to divide and conquer is a good one; however I want to make one suggestion. Chyemme should go with Cloudyous' group and Alminus should go with ours. Chyemme is better suited for fighting in a cramped space and I'm sure the caverns will be such a place. Alminus' brute strength would be better served against the rat men anyway and his large size alone might make fighting underground difficult for him," he reasoned.

The amazon and barbarian both nodded as they looked at each other and then switched places, though I could see that the amazon was disappointed. She clearly wanted to accompany our group for some reason, but the switch was pragmatic.

"Right then, let's get—" the paladin declared but was suddenly interrupted by a younger voice as the child paladin appeared from beside the skatsimi pyramid.

"Wait! I'm going with you," she proclaimed with assurance.

The whole party stopped to look at her, surprised, I guess, by her sudden appearance. Judging by the tear-stains under her eyes and the bright redness on her skin, she'd been listening to everything the sage had said and then some.

The expression that crossed the paladin's exhausted face was unreadable as he turned to her. "Jenny…" he started disapprovingly. "What are you doing here? I thought you were resting?"  
The girl wiped at her eyes and then snorted. "I've rested long enough. I overheard your Elder talking to Ormus last night. He said he'd figured everything out and I wanted to be here to hear it," she insisted. "Now that I have I want to go with you!" she repeated strongly.

The paladin sighed and shook his head, though the motion almost cost him his balance. "Absolutely not!" he answered sternly. "It's way too dangerous, and not to mention you're still a child and you're injured!"

The girl didn't budge from her position. "I'm old enough to have survived on my own when a lot of the adults died!" she argued in her defense. "That makes me more mature than them! I'm not injured anymore, Ormus healed me last night and I got to rest so I'm not tired! Please! Khalim was my family too and I can help you! And you forget that I'm a paladin also," she reminded in complete seriousness.

A displeased growl escaped the paladin's lips when the girl spoke those words, though if anything it was more frustrated than angry. "You don't have any idea what you're saying, Jenny. You're not a paladin; you admitted it yourself last night. And you were absolutely right. Knowing one aura doesn't automatically make you a warrior of Zakarum, there's innumerably more to it than just that. You have to be called and chosen for one, and then ordained, and then you have to be taught…" the paladin rattled off seriously. "You can't just have one aura and think you're fit to run into the middle of nowhere and start slaying demons. If you don't do this properly you end up…" he trailed off with a grim countenance. "Not to mention the physical aspects of battle. I highly doubt you have skill in that area that's great enough to keep you alive against the monstrosities that are marauding out here. There's no way I could accept such a request on a clean conscience," he finished stubbornly.

The girl continued to press him. "Khalim told me that in order to even learn one aura, you have to be called to begin with, so I obviously have been. Khalim recognized my potential and chose to help hone my natural talents. As far as being ordained," she refuted quietly with a morose expression, "those in the Order that could aren't able to anymore and Khalim died before he could either," she reminded. "Khalim also said that being ordained was really just a formality anyway, since God was the one who formally calls people into service. And as for being taught, I was hoping," she admitted with a soft voice as she locked eyes with him, "Well, I was hoping that you'd teach me. Please, I know I can do this if you help me learn. I want to do this! Scorpious these monsters killed everyone I've ever loved! Please let me go with you I want to avenge them!" she pleaded with determination.

"Being a paladin is not about vengeance," the paladin replied gravely. "In fact, that's actually one of the worst reasons to become one."

"So you're telling me that you don't want to bring the demons to justice?" the girl demanded of him incredulously, clearly calling him out. "You loved Khalim as much as I did, I'm sure. Don't tell me you don't want revenge because I wouldn't believe you!"

The paladin placed his face in his armored palm. "I won't lie to you. I do desire justice. If I didn't I wouldn't be human, but what I'm telling you Jenny is that vengeance alone is an unacceptable reason to become a paladin."

"You know that's not the only reason," the girl persisted. "You remember our conversations last night, don't you?" she asked in concern.

"Yes, I do," the paladin affirmed reluctantly. "But Jenny, I can't. You're too young for this and I mean that! And even if you weren't, I don't have the time right now and the demons we face aren't training dummies! Furthermore, if you were standing here for all of Elder Cain's revelations then you know that the Lord of Hatred himself is behind all of this and that Diablo and Baal, the other prime evils, are involved as well. There is no way under heaven or in the name of God I will allow you to become mixed up in that! I will not set a child, much less someone I care about, in the path of the prime evils! And even if all of that wasn't happening right now, the fact of the matter is that until the Compelling Orb is destroyed your abilities would place you at risk for succumbing to Mephisto's control the same as everyone else in the old Order, especially since you're new at it and don't have the amount of control that they had," he refused, laying the basis for his verdict.

"You're right in that I don't have the same control they did. I have more," the girl declared defiantly. "I didn't fall to their influence and I've been in this region all my life. Most everyone in my village turned when Mephisto worked his evil over it, but I didn't. I'm begging you! I'm old enough and I want to learn from you! I want this! I want to be a paladin! Khalim believed that I could join the order and serve God, so why won't you? And besides, even if you continue to say no, I'll just follow you," she confessed at last.

The misery on the paladin's face was apparent. "Jenny, don't ask me for this. Don't ask me," he emphasized, and I could tell that he'd made a decision.

For once, it was a decision I approved of. He was going to deny the girl and from the looks of it, he was going to keep doing it until it sunk in, but to reject her repeatedly was going to be painful for him. But that was just as well. I could barely stomach one of them, much less two, hanging around here and I believe the paladin was also right that she'd get herself killed in a heartbeat. Wasn't some council demon chasing the brat anyway if memory served me correctly? If she couldn't even take care of that herself, she was definitely weak and someone I might as well kill myself if she did try to tag along.

"Please?" she pleaded, starting to sound like a whimpering puppy.

"No," the paladin replied adamantly.

The girl's face dropped and for a moment I thought she was going to burst into tears. What a pathetic and emotional display. It was making me increasingly agitated. This drama had already taken up too much of my time, much like everything else so far today.

The paladin stood and made to leave but as he took his first step, his knee locked and he stumbled and fell face-first onto the ground. I could distinctly sense the icy curse the Prince of Pain had inflicted upon him as it tugged at his flesh from within his blood. I watched apathetically as the girl beat the amazon to his side. She tried desperately to help him up with her frail arms, failing under the great weight of his platemail, all the while gibbering as to whether or not he was okay. My eyes narrowed as I surveyed the paladin's leg. The demon ice was spreading rapidly. It had been just above his ankle by my last count on the ship two days ago and now it was just below his right knee. Well, the paladin was certainly correct in one aspect. He definitely didn't have time left to be mentoring anyone.

The amazon aided the child-paladin and pulled the man to his feet with a concerned expression. The paladin gently shook free of them both and brushed himself off.

"I'm fine," he assured the group at large, though no one looked inclined to believe him. "I'm just tired. I didn't sleep a wink last night," he informed, giving excuses, though with the way he looked, that statement was likely true.

"Lord Scorpious, a word before you go, if you would?" the sage asked the paladin, whom staggered as he walked that way.

The amazon gave him a sympathetic glance for some reason and then turned to the druid. "Let's get our part over with. Sovellis, who's coming with us? You or Vendra?" she inquired of the magi pair.

"I go with you. Feisty one, she have no love of large spider," the sorcerer answered, giving the sorceress a reassuring smile.

"My hero," the female mage muttered. "Though I guess this makes us even for the time I took on those ice snakes for you."

"I say so. Cloudyous lead way," the sorcerer agreed.

The group of them started to move forward, but for some reason, the rogue remained where she was, looking at the forlorn child-paladin.

"How old are you?" the rogue suddenly asked her, seemingly at random.

"Fourteen," she answered, staring after the place the paladin and the sage had disappeared to inside the skatsimi pyramid. "Why?" she added, without taking her gaze from the spot.

Some strange sentiment moved behind the rogue's eyes for a moment before she continued. "Are you familiar with any weaponry?" she furthered.

"Xialah taught me some swordsmanship, but in truth, not really," the half-pint paladin admitted.

The rogue shrugged and un-slung the bow from her shoulder before removing her belt with the attached quiver and handing them to the child paladin. "Well that's good. Now you can start from beginning," she asserted, seemingly pleased about something.

The paladin girl looked at the rogue hesitantly for a moment, but then accepted the weaponry with a surprised face. "You're letting me come with you? And you're going to teach me archery?" she asked in amazement.

The rogue nodded gruffly. "Yes. Come with me while I get my sister's crossbow from my trunk and I'll get you situated."

"But the others…?" the girl paladin asked, performing a sweeping glance around at all of us, whose reactions seemed to vary.

"They'll do whatever the hell they want, just like I will. I gave you permission to come with me and I'm going after Khalim's relics. The way I see it, you're my responsibility alone. I'm going to teach you and nobody's going to say anything about it because it's none of their business," the rogue announced, looking around and daring someone to challenge her.

"But won't Scorpious be angry?" the girl asked sincerely.

The rogue shrugged. "Probably. But he's not the boss of me or the boss of you. Last I checked, we operated of our own independent free will. You wanted to come, avenge your family, and slay demons. I can relate entirely, trust me. And I'm not going to spew any of this bullshit at you about being too young. I was your age when I killed my first demon and come to think of it, I'm barely four years older than you right now. If I can do it, so can you. Though I can't teach you to be a paladin, I will teach you how to avenge your family and level the playing field against the monsters we'll encounter. That all depends of course, on if you say yes. Make up your own mind," the rogue commanded and moved in front of the child to obscure her gaze at the pyramid. "Don't let him make it for you no matter how much you respect him. This is your life," she insisted firmly, "and your decision."

The child paladin nodded. "You're right. Let's get going," she declared.

"Well this is going to be awkward," the sorceress stated sarcastically, becoming the first to break the silence after the two of them left to retrieve the rogue's spare weaponry.

"Scorpious is going to be pissed," the warrior remarked simply, watching their retreating forms with a sour expression. "Laurella had no right whatsoever to invite that girl out here. She's going to get her killed," he growled.

"Have a little more faith in Laurella," the druid chided. "Laurella's been out here with us since nearly the beginning and she's held her own and then some. I genuinely think she can teach Jenny to do the same."

"N' in Jenny. She's got fightin' spirit. I like 'er. N' Laurella kinda did bring up a good point," the barbarian pointed out. "They ain't tha' much different, 'em two. That n' nobody outta this group really's got say over anybody else."

"Yeah, but we're dysfunctional enough as is," the sorceress snorted. "Now we're adding an untrained little girl to the mix. And you know Scorpious is going to throw a fit, Ryelass is right about that."

The amazon chuckled briefly, and judging by her tone she was somewhere between amused and sarcastic. "Well, I wouldn't worry too much about it; this is going to be tons of fun."

Her words resounded in my ears, sending a shiver down my spine and pinpricks across my flesh. In the instant that followed, I relieved that foul dream for what seemed like the thousandth time in one night. That girl…what was her name? Skarla…I think? For some reason when I looked at the amazon, the insufferable girl was standing in her place, smiling that same damn smile. I shook my head violently, causing everyone to stare at me with strange expressions.

"Piricus?" the amazon questioned as she reappeared from beneath Skarla's apparition, "Is something wrong? You look like you just saw a ghost."


	10. Chapter 10

AN: Wow, it's been a while and I'm VERY sorry. As per suggestion, I've decided to change Jenny's name to Jennae. I agree with BranMuffinPower, it sounds way cooler and more Diablo-esque. Sorry again for the delay, I just got a new computer and I moved cross country for a new job. My old comp completely fried out, hence another reason for the long delay, but that's just as well because it couldn't play Diablo 3 anyway. On top of everything else I just graduated my community college and started into a 4-year university, so I've had a lot going on! I hope the length of this chapter will make up for keeping you all waiting. Enjoy you guys and thanks so much for all of you reading and reviewing 3

Disclaimer: I do not own Diablo, Diablo 2, or Diablo 3. All copyrights are still in effect and property of Blizzard Entertainment.

The Crossing of the Bows

Chyemme

" What nonsense are you blathering out now, Amazon?" Piricus growled at me as he turned briskly and started walking away. "If I'd seen something of that nature I'd have blasted it to the tail of Trag 'Oul by now."

"M' not buyin' it," Alminus furthered with a snort. "Ya were lookin' at Chyemme li' she'd jus' sprouted antlers!"

"No one asked you for your opinion, you mindless laggard," Piricus hissed at him sourly. "And if you know what's good for you, you'll keep your wasted words to yourself for the remainder of the time you spend in my presence."

Alminus dismissed Piricus' less than polite response with a yawn as he stretched his massive arms over his head. The rippling muscles underneath his skin flexed in the dim light as he rolled his giant axe over his shoulders into a carrying position. "Wha'ever. Les' jus' go n' get 'is done."

"Stay in touch," Vendra reminded Sovellis as our group broke apart from the others and began moving in the opposite direction. "If I don't hear from you," she started with light-hearted sarcasm.

"Then likely we no hear from you either," Sovellis joked, though the humor contained an element of dark seriousness.

"Don't get eaten," Vendra razzed back. "Or come back wrapped up in spider string. This place would likely go up in a blink trying to burn it off you. Not to mention it's just plain disgusting and there's really no place to clean off around here. I'm not going to stomach the smell."

"You no have to tell me, feisty one," he assured and as we rounded the bend, I saw them share a tender glance. I didn't need any extra-sensory perceptions to tell me that they'd shared some other, unspoken goodbye between them. A small smile tugged at the corners of my mouth. Watching the two of them lately was endearing; Ever since their brush with death at the hands of Horazon's false summoner, they seemed to be growing closer by the day.

Their behavior was something I could easily understand. You don't share your soul with someone and not become close, even if you had a powerful connection beforehand. That's not to mention the fact that they virtually grew up together. As I thought about Vendra and Sovellis, I recalled something I'd gained a glimpse of from Adria's mind back in Lut Gholeign. The words of Celeste, Marcus, and Cyrim replayed in my mind and like it often did, curiosity got the better of me.

In all the time we'd traveled together and out of all the people I'd travelled with, I realized that I knew Sovellis the least. I mean, I knew his personality, the things he liked and didn't like, I knew his fighting style, and I knew some of his quirks from what Vendra told us, but when it came down to it, I knew absolutely nothing about his history. It was an odd realization, because everyone else in the group had already told me at least a little of their stories.

Well, I recollected grimly, that wasn't entirely true. I knew something of him. I'd learned from Vendra and Maria in Westmarch that his parents were corrupted sorcerers and had been killed by the Viz-Jaq'Taar. Vendra had explained that the Zhan-Esu were an order of only women, but somehow Sovellis had been granted an exception for the first and probably the only time in all of history. I couldn't help but wonder why that was and the more and more I thought on it, I wondered what the man named Cyrim had to do with all of this, if anything.

I started to ask him, but was distracted by Laurella and Jennae as they rejoined us at the edge of the docks. I blinked, not recognizing Jennae at first. She'd tied her thin hair back, exposing her gaunt cheeks and half-starved features. Her face, when not framed by her oily hair, was quite haunting. However, the most striking change in her appearance was due to the fact she'd donned a few pieces of leather armor. A leather cuirass adorned the upper part of her chest over her ratty shirt and she was wearing greaves to anchor her knee-high boots into place. Judging by the way her feet were sliding around in the bottom of the boots, they were too big for her and must have been Laurella's previously. But even shoes that didn't fit were substantially better than the sparse strips of water-rotted leather that had been on her feet before. Bright red bracers covered her forearms and I recognized the crest of the rogue sisterhood emblazoned upon them. I noticed immediately that Laurella's own forearms were bare, which surprised me some. She'd given up an essential component of her own armor to protect Jennae. On Jennae's waist hung Laurella's fully-stocked quiver from earlier and she held Laurella's maple-wood bow in her right hand. Laurella herself didn't look much different minus her bracers and in place of her bow, I recognized the mahogany-hued crossbow that once belonged to Celeste, the Blood Raven.

"If you're finished staring, we should go now," Laurella growled at me as they joined us.

"Play nice," Sovellis reproached, though in a civil voice. "You set example now," he reminded, giving Jennae an approving nod as he eyed her new attire.

"Those boots are too big for you," Cloudyous remarked as he eyed them. "Remind me when we get a moment and I will make you some that fit. I've got some spare leather in my bag," he offered politely.

"Thank you," Jennae accepted graciously. "That would be a big blessing. But that's not to say I'm ungrateful for your shoes, Laurella," she added quickly, shooting the older archer an apologetic glance. Clearly she thought her last comment might have been an insult.

Laurella remained indifferent. " Makes sense. Take him up on it."

I watched as Belthem cautiously made his way up to Jennae from behind. Though he'd spent the night outside of our sleeping space and been in Jennae's presence before, he was obviously unsure of what to think of her now. He wrinkled his nose when he sniffed her tatty shirt tail and then nudged the loose rim of her cuirass with the tip of his muzzle, causing the whole piece to slide. Jennae jumped as she felt the unexpected shift of her armor and Belthem's nose on her body. In turn, Belthem scuttled backwards with a mistrusting yelp, startled by her reaction and the noise.

Gaia the grizzly growled loudly, displeased with the sudden commotion. She turned her massive head in Jennae's direction and scoured her with unstable golden eyes. The behemoth bear's unsettling gaze caused Jennae to tense and reflexively reach for an arrow.

"Don't," Cloudyous commanded, though he remained calm. As Jennae hesitated, he made a bear-like noise himself from the depths of his throat, encouraging Gaia to settle down. The grizzly grunted with discontent, but then resumed standing by idly.

Jennae nervously lowered her arm with an apologetic frown, and then turned to look at the two wolves.

Belthem remained on edge for a second more until Sky walked over and licked his ear. The brown wolf also eyed Jennae oddly from where she lingered by Belthem's side, and I could sense the vibes of unease coming off our latest addition to the group.

Cloudyous gave them both a disapproving glare, saying something in the wolves' wild language.

"What are you saying to them?" Jennae asked with a slight bit of tense uncertainty as she observed.

The two wolves relaxed instantly upon Cloudyous' chiding and he clarified for the rest of us. "I told Belthem that he should have approached you from the front, even wolves get jumpy when something comes up behind them."

"What upset him? Is it me?" Jennae asked, a forlorn tone coming to her voice. "They don't seem to like me very much."

Cloudyous shook his head. "No. He said you're fine, he's just not used to the noise your armor makes. It's too big for you and the sound it makes when it slides around reminds him of an unpleasant experience he had when he was a pup. That, and the shirt you're wearing smells like demons. He was trying to make sure you weren't one. And Gaia," he said looking at the bear, "doesn't really like anyone but me. She also abhors loud noises. I wouldn't take it personally."

"My shirt smells like demons?" she asked, confused. "I don't smell anything."

"Wolves can smell things more than ten-fold what we can. Belthem smells the demons from last night, which is reasonable because you're wearing the same shirt. But," he explained, hesitating before he continued with a strange expression, "he also said you're marked, though I have no idea what that means."

"Marked? How so?" I asked, started to feel troubled in my gut. In all the time I'd accompanied my druid friend and his animals, I'd yet to hear of anything like this. "Belthem's never said anything like that before?" I furthered, trying to gain clarification. It was a proven fact that Cloudyous had conversations with the animals that we never would, and perhaps something like this had occurred previously in another conversation unheard to all of us. Cloudyous' answer didn't put my mind at ease.

Cloudyous shook his head. "No. He hasn't."

"Is it putting us in danger?" Laurella asked, trying to glean more from Cloudyous' expression.

"I don't know, seeing as I don't know what it means and he's having trouble explaining it. Jennae's not a threat to us, if that's what you mean. I think we should just move on for now," he answered, though he seemed totally confident that Jennae was trustworthy.

Cloudyous was confident, and so was I. Jennae had, after all, saved my life and the life of another girl yesterday. She'd given me and Piricus a safe place to stay and saved Scorpious when we first came to Kurast. I didn't doubt her character, but the unique circumstances and unanswered questions still weren't resting well with me. I'd had quite enough of secrets recently, so I decided to see if my inner sight could tell me more. I directed it at her subtly as we walked, searching her energies for anything that might provide more information. While we walked, Sovellis asked a pertinent question.

"Jennae, you know what happen to Xialah? She supposed to come with us and she no here," he inquired.

Jennae sighed sadly. "No, I don't. I haven't seen her since she stormed off yesterday night."

"Speaking of that," I added while still employing my inner sight subliminally, "What was that about anyway? She was really intent on saving you the second the demons took you and she seemed so relieved you were alright when we found you. You two obviously have some sort of close bond, but she suddenly flipped a switch when she found out you knew a paladin aura and ran off like a seething cellar cat," I recalled, snorting at the thought of the obnoxious mercenary. "What's the story between you two, if you don't mind me asking?"

Jennae stared at the ground as we walked, apparently very upset as she considered my request.

"Chyemme's being nosy," Laurella grunted with venom towards me. "It's a habit of hers. You don't have to say anything if you don't want to, it's your private life," she reminded.

I caught myself before the childish retort about rudeness being one of Laurella's traits escaped my mouth and luckily, Jennae's response intervened before any more remarks could fly.

"No, no, it won't hurt anything to share this with you and I might as well. Xialah was one of the Iron Wolves that found me after the council demon chased me to the Kurast Docks. After they saved me and brought me into the town, I had nothing. Not that it's unusual here, but I had no surviving family to care for me and no money to my name. I didn't know anyone and for a few days I tried to scrape a living off the streets. I even ate a cockroach," she said with a grimace, "because I couldn't find anything else to eat and I was starving. Anyway, there really isn't much more to tell. Xialah saw how much I was struggling and felt sorry for me, I guess. She sort of took me in you could say. She's the one who talked Asheara into letting me sleep in the old wine-cellar so I wasn't on the streets at night and she normally shares her rations with me. She's like the older sister I never had; she looks after me when she's not busy with the Iron Wolves and makes sure I eat," she explained, though the moment she'd finished speaking my psychic senses alerted me that there was somehow much more to the story than this.

For a moment, I strongly considered pressing her about it; rarely did I ever get an impulse this overwhelming that didn't turn out to be true. I parted my lips to speak, but then Laurella's snarky comment about noisiness being one of my traits resurfaced, ringing in my ears alongside some of her other, juvenile taunts. I growled inwardly when I realized her petulant comment did have an air of truth about it. Given the events of the recent past, I decided to remain silent for the time being. Listening to the conversations of others and inquiring about personal problems had led to some severely complicated and costly situations, some of which I was still presently dealing with. I sated my curiosity with the knowledge that Jennae had been forthcoming about everything else so far. Jennae was the type of person that would speak about whatever she was holding back when she was ready, of this I was sure. I stopped discreetly scanning her energy and instead, I asked a different question aloud.

"To be honest, that surprises me, especially with the way Xialah comes off. But that still doesn't explain her reaction to your paladin abilities. Why did she get so upset? She knows you aren't a demon or in any danger of becoming one," I pointed out, trying to be sympathetic and contain the blatant distaste I felt for the mercenary in my tone.

Jennae frowned deeply, and I could tell she was still thinking about whatever it was she'd yet to reveal to us. Laurella glowered at me, about to say something, and Jennae took notice. Not unlike Scorpious would have, she responded to keep the peace.

"Although we're close, Xialah rarely talks to me about her past," Jennae admitted. "To be honest, you probably know about as much of her history as I do. I try not to pry because I can tell her life's been hard and whatever happened is still painful for her to speak about. I can relate, and that's part of the reason we get along so well. From what I can gather, Xialah had some unpleasant encounters with paladins in the past and she doesn't like them very much. That might be why she got so angry when she found out I can use Zakarum abilities, but I really don't think that's why... I told her my story a long time ago and she knew I came from a paladin background," she recalled. "It didn't bother her before..."

"I no think so either," Sovellis agreed. "She rude to Scorpious, but she rude to everyone else also. She no treat him special."

"Scorpious is one of her clients," Laurella said with a discrediting snort. "Regardless of how she feels, he's paying her."

"In all reality, she probably got so angry because she feels like I lied to her," Jennae speculated. "Like I said, we're close, so she probably thought she knew everything about me and with the way she feels about paladins, it was an awful surprise. But I didn't lie to her," she declared in sincerity. "She never asked me about it. I guess she figured I was too young to be one. But apart from all that, I kept my paladin abilities a secret from everyone, not just her. The people here would have gone berserk and murdered me if they found out. You all already saw how they acted when they saw Scorpious..." Jennae reminded. "That, and I guess another reason why I never told Xialah was because didn't want to lose her. She's all I have left and the thought of her abandoning me because of my abilities...it hurts me so much," she concluded with a pained squeak. "That's why I never mentioned it. The truth's out now though, and I have no idea what will happen when we talk next, if we ever do," the girl lamented in misery.

Cloudyous placed his hand on her shoulder reassuringly. "I wouldn't worry too much," he consoled. "I have a feeling that she'll be able to get past this."

"And how is it that you know this, Cloudyous?" I asked, endeavoring hard to sequester my skepticism.

"Please don't take offense to this," he pleaded with Jennae, "but it's because wolves don't abandon members of their pack. They're family for life and Xialah acts a lot like Belthem and Sky most of the time."

I couldn't contain the hysterical laughter that burst from my mouth. Inappropriate as it was in Jennae's presence, I continued to do so until I was out of breath. It didn't take me long to realize that Sovellis was laughing too, and even Cloudyous had loosed a mirthful chuckle from behind his apologetic grin. I knew that Cloudyous had been genuinely trying to comfort Jennae, however it was clear he was more adept with the social norms of animal communication than he was with human customs. I think he truly meant the reasoning behind his remark, and to him such a thing would make sense. However it was an extremely awkward thing to say to someone that wasn't a druid. Awkward, but hilarious...

Laurella wasn't amused and she crisply reprimanded the lot of us. "Shut up," she demanded, glowering at us. "You don't talk about someone's sister that way in front of them," she hissed hotly. "You upset her," she rebuked harshly as she eyed Jennae's troubled expression.

"That wasn't my intention," Cloudyous offered in verity. "I was trying to find the right words and it's obvious I don't have them."

"It's...fine," Jennae replied, still frowning. "I know you weren't trying to be mean and Xialah can be really hard to get along with..."  
"More like impossible to get along with," I muttered under my breath, though I know my comment went unheard.

"Let's focus on something else," Laurella suggested, changing topics with a final smoldering glare at the three of us humans. "Why doesn't Cloudyous get back to leading us," she insisted suggestively in a flat voice, " and while we walk you can practice your archery."

Jennae fingered the feathered tips of the arrows in her quiver, hesitating. "But wouldn't that be wasteful?" she asked with uncertainty. "We only have so many."

"Not if we retrieve them afterwards and your targets are going to be close," she answered. "Cloudyous," Laurella added, though her earlier venom was gone, " you should tell Bibo to watch where she flies. In fact, it would probably be better if she just rides on your shoulder for the time being while Jennae practices."

Cloudyous nodded appreciatively and whistled from the roof of his mouth, calling Bibo down to him. The ebony raven eyed Jennae curiously as she landed on Cloudyous' fur-padded shoulder and watched her pull and arrow from her quiver.

I watched Jennae struggle when she tried to notch an arrow upon the bow string; several times the arrow slipped off the grip and the fletching frayed as she rubbed the feathers across the rough string trying to steady it. Her fingers were slow and clumsy; she fumbled with the projectile for a few more seconds before Laurella repositioned her hands into the proper places.

"Like this," she corrected, and pulled on two of Jennae's fingers. "Your target will be that tree over there. Any part of it," Laurella clarified, gesturing to an enormous trunk about fifteen feet away to our left. "Now, bring it to the ready, just like I showed you earlier," she reminded as Jennae carefully brought the bow to eye level. "Pull the string back, by your cheek," she instructed.

Jennae had to give the taught string a few preemptory pulls as she settled into the required position, but she was doing well so far.

"Keep both eyes open, look where you want the arrow to go. Got it?" Laurella asked, checking her stance over once more.

Jennae nodded shakily as she concentrated her gaze on the tree. "I think so."

"Then let it go whenever you're ready," Laurella prompted.

"Right," Jennae answered and released the arrow.

I knew the mistake she made instants before she made it, being an expert archer myself. Jennae let go of the arrow with her entire hand instead of just the fingers Laurella had shown her. The result was instant. The arrow plopped violently off of the string and clattered to the ground a foot away.

Jennae grimaced apologetically. "Sorry," she said as she leaned over and picked up the arrow.

Laurella shook her head, patiently responding. "Don't worry about it. That happens to everybody when they first start out. You let go with your whole hand. Try to just release the arrow with your fingers next time. I know it feels strange, but you'll get used to it. Try it again. Set yourself up the same as before," she encouraged without any hint of her recent adolescent attitude.

By this time, we'd already passed Laurella's designated tree as we walked, so the she gave Jennae another target. "Shoot for that bush over to the right," Laurella suggested as Jennae took aim once more.

Jennae was more aware of her hands this time; she didn't let go with her entire hand, but her inexperienced fingers were delayed in their release this go round. Instead of letting go with both of them, she released one finger before the other, creating a shot similar to her last.

She retrieved the arrow and tried a few more times under Laurella's careful expertise. After four more rounds of fire, she finally managed to launch the arrow off the bow. It wobbled through the air and landed in the dirt five feet shy of the target.

Laurella nodded, acknowledging her improvement. "That's better, but put more muscle into it. Don't be afraid to pull the string back a little further," she critiqued.

Jennae pulled a second arrow from her quiver as we approached the area where the first had fallen. The sound of running water met our ears and as Jennae moved into her archery stance, Cloudyous stopped to examine the river in front of us. He grunted to Gaia, apparently asking her something. The grizzly sauntered over to the edge of the water and inhaled deeply, taking in the numerous smells my human nose would never perceive. After a moment, Gaia nudged Cloudyous' elbow with her huge muzzle; she seemed satisfied with whatever results she'd found.

Cloudyous placed his hand palm-down into the water, submerging it up to his wrist. He closed his eyes, focusing solely on his tactile senses. After a moment, he removed his hand and gave it a shake, flinging droplets of rank jungle water from his skin.

"According to the currents and all other sources of information, the Spider Caverns are this way," he announced and turned to the right. "We're going to follow the river, so be alert. Gaia doesn't smell any of them right now, but there might be more of those frog demons from yesterday lurking under the water," he cautioned.

"Frog demons?" Jennae asked as she searched the area with her eyes.

"They like they sound. Trust me, you no miss them, they huge. Just stay away from water and you be fine," Sovellis answered her, scanning the slow, gurgling waterway beside us.

"I'm going to send Bibo to keep an eye on the river from above. You won't be shooting in that direction and she'll be able to see into the water. If there's anything unusual in there, she'll let us know," Cloudyous decided as we proceeded. He locked his vision into Bibo's for a moment and then launched her off of his arm.

"Right then," Laurella stated as she watched the raven fly off to the right. "Try aiming for that log over there," she instructed, resuming Jennae's archery lesson. "And put more draw behind the string this time."

Jennae did as she was told, and drew the bowstring back even with the base of her jaw. I winced the instant she released the string. She'd pulled too hard, and still wasn't quite grasping the arrow hold Laurella was trying to teach her. Her fingers had trembled under the pressure and twitched at the last second, setting a sideways course for the string. The bowstring thwacked across the exposed skin on her face and then into the bracer on her left arm. She cried out in pain and dropped the bow, clutching at her face and the angry, red welt that was starting to swell up underneath her hand.

"Are you alright?" I asked, moving toward her to survey the damage and lend a helping hand.

Laurella beat me there and knelt down beside her. "Let me see," she asked, moving Jennae's hand aside.

A purple bruise was already starting to form at the edges of the reddened friction burn, and I knew how painful such an injury must have been. I'd done the exact same thing in the beginning of my archery training. I'd taken me almost a week for the twinge to die off and my injury only ceased to hurt completely when my mother applied chilled Cervati leaves. As I recalled the memory, the painful sting dwelt on my skin once more. I rubbed my cheek reflexively, experiencing sympathy pains. It was a pity that I didn't have the foresight to stock up on more of the native Skovos flora before I left the isles. Felph flowers were all well and good for fighting, but not much good for anything else. If I had some Cervati leaves, this would have been an injury easily forgotten. Yep, definitely a pity. Well, that was a mistake you only make once when you learn.

I watched Jennae in commiseration as she gingerly rubbed the sore spot, trying not to let tears of pain escape her eyes. I had to laugh when my eyes moved a little past Jennae and onto the growing vine behind her. I think it must have been a gift from Zerae due to the perfect timing, but there were four blue Cervati leaves budding right there.

I walked over and picked a few, causing my comrades to watch me curiously.

"What you do, Chyemme?" Sovellis asked with interest.

"Here, Sovellis can you lightly frost these?" I requested, pulling the serrated leaves apart at the tips and holding them out to him.

"Oh," Cloudyous remarked, recognition dawning. He smiled. "That's really lucky. Finding Cervati leaves out here."

"What kind of leaves?" Laurella asked him, scouring me with a mistrusting expression.

"They have an anti-inflammatory property when they're frozen. They secrete an acid that dulls pain and stops swelling. They're native to jungle regions, but they're really small in comparison with the co-inhabiting vegetation and often difficult to spot. Those ought to help Jennae feel better in no time," he explained, sharing his botanic knowledge with everyone else.

"It not be problem," Sovellis assured, taking the leaves in his hands. A pale vapor misted from his dark hands, coating the leaves in frost before he gave them back to me.

I walked over and placed them face down against the multicolored laceration on Jennae's face. Her relief was almost instantaneous. After three or four seconds, she stood and rubbed the area. Though yellowed tinges of the bruising were still visible, the area was longer swollen.

"Thank you," she said graciously. "Now that I know not to do that again, I guess I'd better get back to practice," she added, picking up her discarded bow and setting up for another shot as we walked.

"Can I make a suggestion?" I interjected quickly, seeing that she was about to make the same painful mistake.

"Yes," Jennae agreed as she lowered her bow.

Laurella shot me a spiteful scowl as she walked over. She'd been about to say something as well, but I just happened to speak first. "What's your problem?" she growled. "She was doing fine!"

"She's getting twisted up in the grip," I told Laurella frankly. "I was going to show her another way of holding the arrow. I think it might be easier on her for now because she has a tendency to release with her whole hand anyway."

"Stay out of this, Chyemme," Laurella demanded with malcontent. "The way I showed her is the _proper_ archery technique and it's the one that all the rogue sisters use. It just takes practice to get it down. If you show her something else you'll only confuse her!" she insisted in a stand-offish tone.

"Proper is subjective, Laurella," I reminded. "The Rogue style is one that works well, I'm not arguing about that, but it isn't the _only _ way. We have a few different forms of archery on the Amazonian isles and the one I have in mind is generally easier to learn if you're a pure novice like Jennae. We're probably going to see combat soon and she needs to be able to hit something more than two feet away, otherwise I might as well just give her my sword," I refuted with defiance. "Here, Jennae. Let me show you," I offered again, reaching for her bow.

"No you don't!" Laurella snorted with hostility as she stepped between us. "She's my pupil and I'm not letting you just bowl me over and assume command just because you think you're _better than me_!" she half-snarled on her last three words.

"I didn't say that!" I snapped angrily, my patience starting to reaching its limits at long last.

"You're implying it!" Laurella protested with venom.

"No, I'm really not," I spat, undeterred. "I'm being practical."

"The hell you are! You're just trying to show me up!" Laurella snarled. "Maybe I should just go ahead and let you, seeing as I'm better than you anyway. You'll fuck this up and then maybe learn your lesson about sticking your nose where it doesn't belong, you sorry blonde trollwart," she sneered at me with antipathy. "Then everyone can see how _great_ you really are!"

"Why don't you let Jennae act like more of an adult than you claim to be and decide for herself what she wants to learn?" I huffed between my gritted teeth, trying desperately one last time to control my flaring temper in spite of Laurella's long-standing disrespect and petty insults. I waited for Jennae's response as I turned to her, trying to ignore Laurella. This jealous behavior of Laurella's was completely and utterly foolish and I was at my wits end with it. I was convinced that my way _WAS_ better than Laurella's in Jennae's case, and I wasn't about to let Laurella's falsely-wounded pride be the reason Jennae met her death out here. "Jennae," I repeated with gravelly calm in my voice, "would you like me to show you a different way?"

"Don't listen to her," Laurella commanded one more time. "She's only going to mess you up!"

Jennae looked between the two of us with clear uncertainty, and clutched the bow to her chest protectively as if the both of us were suddenly going to jump on top of her and rip her apart.

"I..." she mumbled fearfully the two of us continued to stare her down from opposite sides, awaiting her decision. "Aren't you two supposed to be friends? What happened?" she squeaked with intimidation.

"Yeah, we _were _friends," Laurella hissed bitterly. "Until I found out that Chyemme was a two-faced liar that somehow has everyone wrapped around her little finger. You'd better be careful, Jennae. She'll get you to trust her and then stab you in the back and none of your other 'friends' will stick up for you. She'll take away what you love most and then lie to you ever-so-sweetly and pretend to be your friend while she goes around acting all high and mighty like she owns the whole damn world!"

"I never lied to you about anything!" I exclaimed furiously, feeling the muscles in my arms and neck start to twitch in unchecked agitation. "If there's anyone here that's two-faced, it's you, you little brat! You say you're an adult, that you're all grown up, but then you act like a spoiled little baby when you find out that Ryelass doesn't return your affections and start belittling me when I HAD NOTHING TO DO WITH HIS DECISION! And just so you know, I DON'T SEE HIM THAT WAY!" I shouted, exasperated. "I just happened to be walking by obliviously when that whole mess exploded! But no, you're so eager to blame everyone but him, that you take all your girlish garbage out on me when I've done nothing wrong! And you're so insecure about yourself that you're going to stand there and prevent Jennae from learning something that will help her stay alive! Are you really that self-absorbed? You're disgusting!" I thundered, setting all of my repressed emotions free. "Yeah, we used to be friends," I repeated snidely, "Then Laurella became a selfish, whining child that can't separate fact from fiction!"

Laurella's silver eyes narrowed at me dangerously as she swept past Jennae altogether and into my personal space. I was fully aware of the loaded crossbow she held in her left hand as she leaned up on her toes, getting into my face.

"Back up," I insisted with a baleful tone in my voice as my fists clenched by my sides. I was not intimidated by this little whelp's antics in the least. In fact, with every second that passed, she only made me increasingly angry.

"Why don't you make me?" she challenged, glaring at me.

"I'm thinking about it," I informed with a growl. "I'm only going to tell you one more time. Get out of my face," I repeated, seething with silent rage.

"I'm still here, aren't I?" she shot back. "I dare you to take a swing," she continued, taunting me.

"One would be all it takes," I snorted sarcastically, fighting back the nearly overwhelming impulse to call her out and punch her in the face.

"Hang on second! Let not do this!" Sovellis interrupted, moving swiftly to stand beside both of us.

"Stay out of this," Laurella and I growled at him simultaneously before shooting each other loathing scowls across the four inch distance between us.

"Be calm, I beg you both. This not way to solve problem! You no need to fight! We find different way to solve!" Sovellis continued, slipping his tall body between us and forcing us apart. Starting to become furious with Sovellis and thoroughly irate with his interruption, I made to shove past him. Laurella had a similar idea and attempted to lunge around him. Though he was thin and I could easily get at Laurella around his body, Sovellis' long, lanky appendages and sheer height did prove to be a considerable barrier. Being mindful of where he placed his hands, my mage friend grabbed a piece of Laurella's brown undershirt that was protruding up from her armor around the collar in one hand and the top of my leather breastplate with his other. He pushed the pair of us in opposing directions, using the length of his arms to put a sizeable three foot distance between us. We both struggled against him and it became increasingly difficult for him to hang on. I could see the strain we were placing on the long muscles underneath his dark skin. Pleasingly, I noted he was having much more trouble restraining me and my muscular frame than he was with tiny, wispy Laurella. I scoffed as I eyed her from around Sovellis' midnight blue robes. Did she have any idea what would happen to her if she really did pick a fist fight with me? I'd crush her in half without any sort of issue, that's what. I'd taken on warriors twice her size and caliber in the past and come out victorious, not to mention some of the demons I'd bested. Take away Laurella's bow and she really had nothing left.

"This foolish, and embarrassing. You both make selves look dumb. Let not do this. Please, I beg both once more, calm down," Sovellis tried one more time, berating both of us as I finally wrestled out of his grip. Surprisingly, he made no further attempt to contain me after I broke loose and he released Laurella as well, though he still stood rooted to the spot between us.

"I agree," Cloudyous added, walking over with a serious expression after having watched Sovellis' failed attempt at playing peacemaker between us. "We need to find a different, more peaceful solution to this conflict. I think the first step is for you two to put some physical distance between you," he suggested, "and Laurella put your crossbow away."

"Don't tell me what to do and ignore Chyemme," she spat at him crossly, refusing to budge from her spot directly in front of Sovellis.

"That wasn't a request," Cloudyous insisted in an even voice. "And it was directed at both of you."

"I'm not moving until she does," I protested, still feeling indignant over our verbal skirmish and now egged on even more so by her physical attempt to get back into my space from across Sovellis. I definitely wasn't going to be the first to back down, even though Cloudyous' words were sound in sense. This was a matter of pride and I was finally at the breaking point with it. I remained rooted where I was, glowering at him obstinately and when Laurella didn't budge either, Cloudyous tried again.

"I don't think I need to remind either of you that this entire landscape is radiating demon energy worse than an exploding volcano and I think it's getting to the two of you. I don't know if it's because you two are psychically gifted or because this is a long-standing conflict, but neither of you are exercising good judgment right now. Separate," he repeated.

It took me a surprised moment to realize it because I'd never heard my druid friend make one before, but Cloudyous had just issued a threat.

"Is that a threat?" Laurella and I asked together: her with petulance and me with my own agitation.

In reply, we were both promptly silenced as Gaia took a massive step in our direction and loosed a savage roar that shook the surrounding area. The sound was more than enough persuasion for Laurella; she stiffly lowered her weapon and took three furious strides backward. She crossed her arms with a stubborn, childish posture, but at least she was now angling her weapon into the soggy jungle dirt.

Likewise, Gaia's bellowing challenge also changed my attitude. The sound alone had set my blonde hair to whipping in the air for the sheer force and I wasn't foolish enough to pick a fight with a fully mature grizzly if I didn't have to. I muttered my discontent under my breath, but walked over to lean against a fallen tree.

"Now then," Cloudyous tried again. "Let's think of a different way to settle this. I'm up for hearing any practical suggestions that don't involve a physical altercation between the two of you."

"I have no idea then," Laurella hissed through gritted teeth.

I stared at Laurella furiously with an unblinking gaze, trying to determine a solution through my abundant anger that didn't include beating her to a pulp. Her eyes were icy and malicious, and for a moment, I couldn't help but think of Piricus due to the similarity in expression. I wonder what he would have said if he were here? I wonder what he would have done? He probably would have goaded the two of us into fighting in the first place and then taunted me for losing my temper while saying something like 'Oh finally lost it have you, Amazon?' Or 'How pathetic, you let a child's words get the best of you'. I scowled at the thought. Yeah, to that I would have responded 'And you're any better? Challenging Ryelass to a petty pissing contest.' I could just see the dark light flickering behind his emerald eyes now as he made some stupid threat...

My imaginary argument with Piricus suddenly gave me an idea. A contest. It was the perfect answer, and given my heritage, I was surprised I hadn't thought of it sooner. On the Amazonian Isles it was ancient tradition that disputes between two warriors be settled with a trial known as the Crossing of the Bows. A test in one's archery skill, two disagreeing Amazons of the warrior caste would both be sent into the wilderness, each alongside a fair and impartial judge appointed by the tribal leaders, to hunt as many animals as they could during a set time frame. When the time limit was reached, both parties would head back to the tribe and the judges would recount the tales and present the kills before the Queen's Battle Maiden. The animals killed during this trial would provide necessary supplies for our people, and therefore the Amazon with the greatest bounty would be declared the biggest asset to our people and ergo the winner of the dispute. The winner of this contest was entitled to full repayment of any and all material debts in question and in matters where pride and reputation were on the line, the winner also had the right to demand public recompense from their defeated foes. For us Amazons, that usually meant the loser humbles themselves in front of the tribe by becoming a temporary servant to their victor and publicly takes back whatever offensive thing they said. In this case, I would be demanding an apology to myself, Jennae, and to Ryelass. I honestly didn't think I could stomach having Laurella follow me around with an even more bitter attitude, and therefore if she agreed to this, when I won, I'd forego that right. There was also one more trying aspect to this competition. The use of inner sight was strictly forbidden.

"I have an idea," I offered, still steaming with antipathy as I explained the concept to Laurella and everyone else present. When I was finished Laurella scoffed.

"A fair and impartial judge? Where the hell would I find one of those? Everyone here is on your side," she spat.

"It doesn't have to be someone from this group," I shot back hotly. "I'll even let you go back to town and pick someone. So what do you think, Laurella?" I demanded. "Are you going to accept my challenge or back down like a little cur?"

I could have repressed that last insult if I'd really wanted to, I guess. But truth be told, I just didn't feel like it right now. With as many cheap shots as she'd taken at me recently, I figured I was entitled to at least one of my own. Just as expected, Laurella took the bait.

"I'm going to make you eat that," Laurella snarled. "Hell yes I accept! And just to make sure you don't cheat, I'll even let you use my bow. Give Jennae your sword," Laurella insisted with a testy voice.

"Done," I agreed, removing my crystal blade and its sheath. I handed both to Jennae a little more rough than I'd intended and I almost knocked her over. "Sorry," I apologized in a breath, hearing the misdirected briskness in my tone and not caring for once, as Jennae traded me her quiver and bow.

Jennae unsheathed the crystalline sword as I rearmed myself and marveled at its shimmering edge. "This is beautiful," she said in admiration. "A blade like this could buy a city! Look at how thick the crystal is!"

"It's also sharper than a razor, be extremely careful," I admonished, starting to feel a tiny pang of guilt for my attitude half a second ago. I shouldn't have snapped at Jennae, but I was so irritated I really couldn't help myself. I fastened the final latch of the quiver into my belt while still addressing her. "That's probably be better for you to use anyway, seeing as you've already had some sword training," I added, watching her give it a test swing that sliced cleanly through a cluster of intertwined vines and into the trunk of a tree behind it.

"It feels a little more familiar at least," Jennae admitted with a small amount of confidence.

"So who be judge of contest?" Sovellis asked, looking between Laurella and I.

"We're only going to need one judge, because it's not advisable for us to split up. We'll be fighting in a tight space anyway from the feel of things, and one person will be able to watch you both from the back, so one judge should be sufficient. But it will have to be someone with a spiritual sense," Cloudyous reminded, "Seeing as neither of them are allowed to use inner sight. It would have to be someone that can sense it's use, so that's not me. I'm going to suggest that you judge this contest, Sovellis. You have more attuned perceptions and we really don't have time to be running back to the docks. The others are relying on us to get our relic and meet back with them as soon as possible," he finished.

"That's fine with me," I concurred. I looked to Laurella, expectant that she would pitch some sort of ill-tempered protest.

She shrugged, though there was a level of insolence in the gesture."Out of everyone," she said with a grumble, "he's probably the one I'd call the most impartial. Fine by me."

"Well it's a good thing that's settled," Cloudyous announced, stopping in front of an extremely large outcropping of mossy rock, "Because we're here."

"You no look pleased," Sovellis noted, seeing an unpleasant expression cross our druid friend's face.

"What's wrong?" Jennae asked him with seriousness, inspecting the forty-foot rock for herself.

Nothing appeared out of the ordinary; the rock was solidly settled into the mushy ground about thirty feet inland and the last ten or so feet on the right were halfway submerged in the river. The river itself showed no signs of disturbance and I couldn't physically see anything out of place around the rock either. I instinctively started to scan the area with my inner sight but abruptly stopped myself. The Crossing of the Bows hadn't officially started, but it would the moment I fired my first arrow and it couldn't be one under the guidance of inner sight or I'd forfeit immediately.

Cloudyous pressed his hand firmly against the side of the rock and I watched the subtle brown energy of his druidic magic work its way into the grooves. He closed his eyes, considering to himself for a moment.

"The entrance into the cavern has been sealed. I don't know if it was a natural cave in or a demon's attempt to block our path that closed it, but I'm not seeing an immediate way inside," Cloudyous answered, surveying the area more closely.

"Can we use one of these holes?" Jennae asked, peering over the edge of a large sinkhole she'd discovered three feet in front of her.

"How'd you find that?" Laurella asked her, leery.

"It was just here under all these leaves," Jennae answered. "There are a few more of them over there," she answered, gesturing around.

Suspicious, I made my way to her side and looked around. As I examined the area, I noticed there were multiple gaps in the mud around the base of the rock, each about ten feet from the next and each about four feet wide. They were covered extremely well, my trained eyes had trouble unmasking their locations from the jungle floor. Moss and decaying foliage obscured the majority of what I instantly knew to be spider traps. I grabbed Jennae's arm and pulled her away from the hole wordlessly. Instinct, and the claw-marks just visible at the edge sight within the hole we'd just been looking down told me this trap had very recently snared some live prey.

It wasn't a moment too soon. A split second after we'd absconded that space, a long, spindly leg appeared from within the hole tentatively probing the area we'd been standing moments before.

I fluidly strung an arrow to Laurella's bow, aiming at the base of the hole. I knew what was coming next and I wasn't disappointed. A gargantuan, hairy spider half the size of Gaia came skittering soundlessly out of the ground. I only took enough of a discerning look to determine where the middle of its head was. I fired, flawlessly nailing an arrow into the middle of its face and rupturing one of the faceted eyeballs that lie next to my mark. Black blood poured over the area and the creature clacked its grotesque jaws together one final time before slumping back into its burrow lifelessly.

"Hey Sovellis," I called over, "Did you catch that? That's one for me."

The smell of smoke preceded his answer. "Yes Chyemme. I saw spider. But I think this one bigger!" he called over his shoulder, launching a fireball into a sinkhole and onto the face of an enormous arachnid that had appeared from within.

I turned and fired, hitting another spider that was surfacing next to Cloudyous in one of its skittering front legs. In a cacophony of mandibular clacks and shrill screeches, the overgrown spider staggered backward disoriented by pain and slid a small distance back into the ground. The distraction and loss of traction on behalf of the spider was enough to give Cloudyous the necessary time to react. Whistling and wringing ice from the arctic winds on his palms, my druid friend blasted the encroaching arachnid over the thorax, successfully freezing its legs into its body. Unable to climb any further, the creature disappeared as it plummeted back into its burrow and out of my eyesight underneath the ground. I could tell though, by heavy thuds sounding a short ways down, that the spider Cloudyous and I tag-teamed had collided with and possibly killed several more attempting to climb aground out of the same burrow.

"That doesn't count," Laurella grunted from somewhere behind me. Apparently she'd seen the string of spiders Cloudyous and I had just finished.

Ignoring the instincts of the trained warrior in me, I allowed my attention to drift away from the battle for a moment and instead I permitted myself to indulge in the indignant irritation that was usurping my focus.

"He didn't say it did!" I snapped back loudly, turning to look at her with hostility.

"We just needed to be clear," Laurella huffed as her eyes scanned the burrows for more spiders. I could tell, judging by the way her upper lip twitched as she looked around, that she was sorely missing her inner sight and had probably considered using it at least once.

Sheesh. What a novice. Couldn't even go one fight on observation alone. And this little whelp thought she could up me in anything? A half-formed scoff escaped my mouth but was quickly replaced by a cocky grin. In a movement I wasn't even sure Laurella could register, I reloaded the bow and fired, hitting a spider that was emerging near her left foot. My arrow impaled the animal cleanly through side of its face and it died without ever making a sound. To my further pleasure, Laurella seemed to have noticed this spider too, but she had been much slower reacting to it. Her crossbow bolt landed in its eye several seconds too late.

"Hey Laurella," I jeered. "That one counts. Just so we're clear," I added sounding more than slightly arrogant. I turned to Sovellis expectantly, waiting for his confirmation.

"You can't be serious!" Laurella snarled with spite. "That one was mine!"

Our mage friend had a strange look on his face as he turned to the pair of us and eyed the two projectiles embedded in the dead arachnid dubiously.

"I hit it first," I snapped, trying to clear up the obvious uncertainty in his mind.

Sovellis sighed. "I guess so," he declared after a moment of hesitation.

"This is ridiculous!" Laurella thundered. "It's at MY feet!"

"Yeah it is ridiculous," I found myself laughing cynically. "You have a crossbow which fires with the pull of a trigger. It's faster than a bow and I STILL beat you to it."

"Stop it you two-" Cloudyous growled from beside me. He was interrupted midsentence as four, reddish brown spiders, dark and stripped like tigers with ebony streaks, appeared from seemingly nowhere atop the large rock we'd been examining earlier.

Without further ado, one launched itself off the rock and toward Cloudyous. He turned to strike the creature with his spiked club, but in so doing he left his back wide open. Another of the four monsters actually stumbled over top of one of its fellows in order to make the most of the opportunity.

Belthem snarled with savagery and lunged through the air to his human friend's defense but let out a loud yelp when he was snagged around one of his back feet by a burrowing spider that had used the wolf's own preoccupation to strike from below. Sky, Cloudyous' brown wolf, surged forward, growling and barking at the spider that snagged Belthem, but part way to her pack-mate's side, she darted sideways, watching the other spider attacking Cloudyous with her wild gaze. The she-wolf weaved hesitantly, clearly unsure which member of her pack needed her more and it was a hesitation that cost her dearly. A third spider from the group up top pounced on her and landed a pincer in her side as it knocked her over.

Everyone was already moving: Sovellis had taken aim for the spider at Cloudyous' backside as Bibo swooped in from above and tried to distract it to buy him more time. Laurella was trying to help Belthem, seeing as he was the closest to her. Putting my jibes at Laurella momentarily out of my mind, I aimed for the spider attacking Sky. However, I was forced to redirect immediately when Jennae ran out in front of me, sword held high. Her intentions may have been noble but unfortunately her movements were ill-timed. The fourth and final red spider took her sudden jerky run to Sky's aid as a signal of fleeing prey and it sprang off the rock after her.

Everything after that seemed to happen in slow motion. I released an arrow from my bowstring aimed to protect Jennae, but it seems Laurella had the same idea. At least, my mind muttered grimly in the exaggerated moments that followed, it wasn't a selfish notion. My arrow collided with Laurella's bolt, seeing as they were on the same course, and both of the missiles violently splintered apart several feet shy of the target.

Jennae twirled mid-run, seeing the dark shadow of the spider just a second too late. Though she pulled my crystal blade with her in the motion, striking as she did so, she only managed to cut off a single, spindly leg before she disappeared beneath the bulk of the enormous spider. She yelped loudly in surprise; a sound I'm sure that was originally a startled scream and ended up muffled underneath the monster's mass.

To make matters worse, Sovellis, upon hearing Jennae's distressed cries, had turned his attention at precisely the wrong moment and missed with the ice bolt he'd cast to save Cloudyous. Bibo barely had time to swerve around the errant bolt of magic, she darted upwards at the last possible second with a loud caw. Out of reach, the raven could only watch as the second attacking spider descended on top of my druid friend, tearing savagely at anything it could reach. Fur went flying from the back of his muskrat shawl before the large predator completely obscured my view of him also.

Gaia stormed forward, seeing the peril that all of her companions were in and tackled the first spider Cloudyous had been fighting around the midsection. Her razor-sharp claws mangled the squishy flesh of the red spider as she slashed at anything she could reach. She bit and mauled her way through the entire body of the monster in seconds, but not before receiving a nasty surprise. Her massive jaws crunched down on something at least semi-solid, judging by the sound, and a small fire erupted over her muzzle.

Likewise, judging by the howls and the smoke I was starting to see through the mass of legs, jaws, and spider bodies, Sky's fur was also on fire. I grimaced as I remembered what Cloudyous had spoken back at dockside. These red spiders apparently ate some type of flammable ore and could breathe fire if I remembered him correctly...

"Gaetreth," I hissed under my breath, using the harsh Amazionian curse word for the first time since I left home. I was never one for overt swearing, but more and more, events and people just seemed to make this foul oath the most appropriate thing to describe these circumstances.

"Laurella, help Cloudyous!" I insisted as I took aim for the spider that was atop Jennae.

"Why don't you?" she hissed, miffed as she aimed for my same target. "I invited Jennae along and I'll take care of her. I'm not giving you another opportunity to ridicule me."

"You're closer-" I started to protest, but before I could finish, a bolt whizzed by me so close to my nose it actually tickled. The spider Jennae had disappeared underneath howled in agony as the bolt embedded into the center of its back. It bucked and flailed, and when it reared I breathed a nanosecond's worth of relief. Jennae was still alive beneath the thing, she had the sword I'd lent her lodged like a bar between the spider's clacking jaws and her vivid, fire-repulsing aura was present around her, stealing the monster's fire out of its dripping jaws and channeling it harmlessly around to the sides of her body.

I didn't have time to yell at Laurella about the crossfire she'd created, I had to help Cloudyous, and fast. Despite the dire situation, intellect and pride hadn't completely deserted me. Legend has it that over a hundred years ago, the best Amazon archer in the world, Palashia, developed a secret technique that enabled her to use her own energy to split one arrow into many. Rumor also has it that she used the technique to best several rivals in an archery contest. Here's a funny thing about rumors. Some of them are true. The higher orders of Amazonian priestesses and most especially the elite fighters of the warrior caste are privy to this particular technique. I remember learning it under my mother when I was only ten. Though I am and always was more inept with spear-class weapons, my archery skills are far from dismal. I concentrated on the feel of the wooden arrow in my grip, I felt for the grains in the wood with my mind. I made the connection and fired my projectile, pulling the wood apart with my mind as it flew. The arrow split into two halves; the first half severed the head of the spider attacking Cloudyous and as it did so, I directed the secondary half with my mind into the spider attacking Sky.

The secondary arrow sliced cleanly through the spider's midriff, killing it after several more moments of screeches, thrashes and wails. In the time it took me to kill two spiders, Laurella managed to finish off the one attacking Jennae by shooting it through four of its eyes. While we were preoccupied, Sovellis had regained enough of a grip on the situation to blast the flameless spider attacking Belthem into pieces with a fireball, thus ending the threat for the moment.

I looked around sharply, trying to assess not only the damage done to my companions, but make double sure there weren't any more spiders immediately around. I won't lie, doing so would have been much easier and more accurate using my inner sight and the instinct to use it almost kicked in. I growled in disgust as the wafting smell of burnt fur and flesh passed under my nose, reminding me that I was still engaged in a contest that I didn't want to forfeit.

I turned to Sovellis, whom was already moving to extinguish the flames around Sky's side, he was blowing misty vapor from his mouth into her fur as he knelt over the wolf. Cloudyous stood up swiftly and tossed his flaming fur shawl onto the ground. He stomped on it several times, extinguishing the blaze. There was no question in my mind as I looked at what remained of the shredded and charred piece of hide, that if Cloudyous hadn't been wearing it, he'd have been dead right now. Fortunately, it seemed that in spite of everything that just transpired, he was completely unharmed.

The same seemed to hold true for Jennae, further compounding my relief. Other than being coated in some revolting globules of spider saliva, she seemed fine. In fact, she didn't even appear shaken. Jennae graciously accepted Laurella's hand up when she walked over and then promptly set her aura around Gaia, putting out the blaze on the grizzly's maw.

Cloudyous' face soured as he looked around himself at each of his animal companions. Of the four of them, Bibo had obviously faired the best. She wasn't injured at all, but the raven's nervous and flittering mannerisms as she perched in the tree overhead suggested she was upset regardless. Belthem limped over to Cloudyous' side, sniffing him and some of the minor scorch marks present in his ripped and dirtied linens. Apparently content that the druid wasn't injured, he turned to the tear in his rear haunch and licked it sorely as he sat down.

Sky and Gaia both looked a little worse for wear. Sky was missing a patch of fur on her side and had a significant puncture under one of her ribs. She was in great pain too; the she-wolf paced a circle tightly and was panting hard. This made twice I'd seen Sky suffer a burn-type injury, though admittedly this time she'd fared a little better. I looked over, examining Gaia in more detail next. True to any bear, Gaia seemed to just shirk off her burns. She licked her blackened muzzle tenderly and exhaled a deep, displeased snort, but otherwise seemed unfazed.

"Poor thing," Jennae said with a frown as she watched Sky. "Is there anything we can do to help her?"

"She's a bit roughed up," Cloudyous admitted with a hardened expression as he watched the brown wolf also, "but wolves are resilient and she'll be able to hold out until we can treat her with some salves and the like later. Belthem on the other hand, needs a bandage. Sovellis may I have one out of the pouch?" he requested.

Sovellis nodded and removed a dull-colored strip of linen from a satchel at his belt. He handed it to Cloudyous and as he started to bind Sky's wounds, Sovellis turned to Laurella and I.

"What's the score?" I asked, keenly interested and not wanting to allow him the reprimand he was about to give us.

Sovellis slouched. "Is such really what most important to you?" he asked with dismay.

"Right now it is," Laurella affirmed, "Now that everyone is okay."

"You say that like nothing happened," I growled, turning to glare at her. "Your crossfire could have gotten us all killed! And not to mention the next time you fire that close to my face on purpose, contest or no, I'm going to bend that crossbow around your neck," I threatened with animosity.

Laurella started to retort, but Sovellis intervened, bringing our attentions back to him. "The score be this. Chyemme kill four spider so far. Laurella kill two. One she kill while you busy Chyemme," Sovellis explained before I could protest or ask about it.

I grinned heartily upon hearing the news. "Doesn't matter to me, I trust you to be fair Sovellis," I reaffirmed, willing the very statement to stir the ire in Laurella.

"I'm just going to remind everyone to be more alert," Cloudyous added with a displeased grunt as he finished bandaging Belthem's leg. As an ominous reminder, which I knew to be aimed at Laurella and myself and not actually everyone, he shook the tattered ruins of his shawl before discarding it into the dirt.

I could feel my ears twitch ever so slightly, and even as Cloudyous said the words, I strung my bow. "Speaking of which," I began as Laurella loaded her crossbow simultaneously.

"Don't even think about it," Laurella snorted as we loosed our projectiles at the same time.

I snorted. To hell with that. My arrow was going to hit first, of that I was sure. And if her bolt hit too, it wouldn't really matter much, there'd be nothing left of that spider. I'd already outdone her. I smiled as my arrow burst into flame and embedded itself into the face of the emerging spider, pinning it against the wall of the sinkhole.

My smile quickly turned into a cringe when I realized a little too late what I'd just overlooked in my pride. The resulting explosion blasted me and everyone else off of our feet. My left temple struck the filthy, wet ground with a sizeable force and for a moment my ears were ringing and all I could see were shapeless blobs of color. My head throbbed in agony as I made to move, whether I was able to sit or stand I still couldn't tell. My circlet had protected me from landing unconscious, but flesh striking against the inside metal wasn't a productive sensation either. I remained motionless for several moments, woozy and unable to clearly hear or see anything. I closed my eyes as all of my senses screamed in unison.

Something pulled me to my feet, and I felt a strong pressure under my arms and across my back. I could vaguely discern Cloudyous' voice next to me. His tone was hurried and low, and judging by the quickness of his garbled words, he was really angry.

"I can't believe...you of...what the...why...pride...ore...flammable...now...spiders!" were among a few of the words I was able to make out as my hearing returned and my vision stabilized.

When I regained my visual focus and everything settled, I cursed again. Spiders...spiders were everywhere. There had to be almost seventy or eighty of them and all of them were swarming forth from the glowing gap in the earth I'd just so foolishly created like ants from a disturbed bed. I'd never held any love for spiders and seeing this many all swarm together at once was enough to turn my stomach. My knees quaked together in a subconscious revulsion I couldn't control.

"Chyemme?! Can you understand me?!" Cloudyous prompted as he turned me to look at him.

I nodded, bring searing pain to my forehead and its many muscles as I did so. "Yes, I can..." I mumbled regrettably.

"Thank the stars," he sighed. "That was one hell of an explosion you and Laurella created," he grumbled, still cross as he helped me walk backwards. In fact, as I looked behind me, I realized he'd been helping me toward the edge of the darkened river.

"Laurella?" I asked, still disoriented a bit.

"Yes," Cloudyous growled in a gruff voice. "You and Laurella both conveniently had the oversight to forget that the ore in the caverns below is highly volatile and in your haste to kill one spider, you both shot fire arrows and blew it tree-high!"

"You're right," I sighed with my head feeling like it too was about to explode, "that was pretty damn stupid."

"Yes, it was," he snapped, more brisk than I'd ever heard him. "The mother tree truly blessed and protected us, because luckily this short-sighted folly didn't get anyone killed. What the hell did I just say about being aware?" he huffed, starting to sound somewhat like Scorpious. Now that I thought about it, Piricus was right. Scorpious did tell us to be careful a lot. Maybe this had happened because he wasn't here this time to say it, I thought with dark humor to myself as the mountain of spiders sighted us simultaneously and began the charge.

"I can walk by myself," I insisted, shaking loose of Cloudyous' arm. "What now?" I asked, groping for the bow I'd been lent in the spot where my javelins were. My fingers traced the metallic tips of my throwing weapons, but the bow was nowhere to be found.

"Belthem has the bow. He picked it up after the explosion," Cloudyous supplied as he watched me. "I swear by Scosglen that animals are so much smarter than people on most occasions," he seethed, trying to contain his temper.

As unusual as it was to see Cloudyous angry, I really couldn't blame him. He was right. We'd been EXTREMELY fortunate in surviving the explosion, but we'd made a bad situation worse regardless.

"We're headed into the water. These spiders can't swim, and the water will protect us from the flames. There's also an underwater entrance to the caves a short way up. I was about to explain that when the spiders attacked in the first place," Cloudyous furthered, returning to my original question.

"Fine," I concluded, though I was apologetic in my tone as I backed into the sickly- looking river water. Everything about this waterway was rank. I'd expected such a shadowy place to be cold, but the dusky, brackish water was sticky and almost hot, like tar. The smell of death emanated up from the riverbed as my feet stirred the squalid mud and decaying foliage of its bottom. Not only were the physical sensations of the water disgusting, but the further back I went into the water, the more an unearthly chill swept over my skin. My soaked leather armor clung tightly to my body as I followed Cloudyous' lead and submersed myself up to my shoulders in the murk. I prayed to Zerae that there weren't any of the demon frogs lurking around as the weight of my metal thigh-armor and weapons anchored me into place in the water and hindered my forward momentum. If they attacked, I definitely wasn't going anywhere fast.

After a few moments, we rejoined with the others, even Gaia, whom waded in the shallows a few hundred feet downstream. It looked to me like Sovellis was holding Laurella afloat; her expression suggested strongly that she had been likewise stunned by the explosion we'd created. She gave me a malcontented glare as we approached, but said nothing.

"So," Jennae began with a humorous tone as she sensed the tension, wobbling in and out of the weak current, "who got that one?"

I snorted, extremely displeased. I didn't find that joke the slightest bit funny and neither did Laurella. We both glowered at her, but Sovellis broke out laughing.

"Me say, spider win that one," he said with a smirk.

"No kidding," Cloudyous scoffed, an uncharacteristic thing for him.

"Aww, come now. Even feisty one laugh at joke and she no even here," Sovellis protested, giving Jennae a reassuring pat on the shoulder.

"Frankly, I think Vendra might be having a better day than I am so far," Cloudyous countered, though some of his good-natured self returned to his voice.

"And why that be? We still alive, no? And spider no swim, so say I we have really good day," Sovellis returned with a smile.

"A spider ruined my favorite shawl, among other things," Cloudyous snorted, though Sovellis' good humor was starting to relieve his sour mood.

Something hard and sticky landed in the water next to us, and looking up, I couldn't help but be disgusted. The spiders were all clamoring over each other on the riverbank lining up and spewing string from the spinnerets on their rears.

"That's revolting," I spat as a shiver passed up my spine.

"It's also dangerous," Cloudyous remarked with displeasure. "Their webbing is like fishing line. If they snag you with it, they'll pull you right to shore faster than we can react."

"I burn webbing and create fire shield from side," Sovellis offered as he conjured a small flame around his wrist.

"A wise idea," Cloudyous agreed. "The tunnel is about fifty feet this way," he added, pointing to the portion of the boulder that lay in the water. "At the base."

Sovellis wasted no time in forming a semi-circular barrier of fire in the air above the water, projecting it shore-side with his right hand. Several strands of webbing hit the shield and were burnt away with an acrid odor as we all started to wade through the river toward the clandestine opening beneath the water.

I couldn't help it. As we walked I could tell that something wasn't right. I'm not a druid, but there were several patches of cold mixed into the heated water that sent pinpricks over my skin. There were more than a handful of times that I could have sworn something was moving besides the current in the water around me and more and more the paranoia increased until I stopped walking. We were only a few feet from the rock, and Cloudyous was preparing to dive when he noticed my hesitation.

"What's wrong Chyemme?" he asked, reading my face expertly.

"There's something here in the water with us," Jennae finished for me as she eyed the water around her with mistrust. I noticed that she'd pulled the crystal blade from underneath the water and was holding it at ready.

"Are sure? I feel nothing and animal no make notice either," Sovellis asked, turning to us briefly while maintaining his magical shield.

My heart dropped into the pit of my stomach as the water next to Jennae's head began to break and what resembled a sunken, rotted human face missing several of its key components appeared.

"That's because they're zombies and the water masked their smell!" I hissed and reached for a javelin. To hell with the contest, right now I had no other weapon anyway.

I took aim at the repulsive creature, but Jennae beat me to it. In a move that would have made Scorpious and Khalim proud, she turned and brought the sword down overhead, cleaving the undead atrocity in half with a splash.

As if the acknowledgement was all they needed, more of the water-logged undead started to surface around us in a ring. I inhaled sharply as something out of eyesight within the depths of the water grabbed at my ankle. Trusting the feel of my boots around my foot to let me know where not to place my strike, I stabbed downward into the water with my javelin and felt the metal lance something fleshy. That fleshy something then started to wriggle like a monstrous fish and thrash around beneath me.

Whatever I'd ensnared, presumably a zombie, rolled under the water and dragged me with it. I managed to suck in a deep breath just before I was plunged into the gross, dim river. Brackish fluid was forced up my nose and the filth stung at my eyes as I struggled to determine what I was currently fighting with. However, even underneath the water and being much closer to my target, I still couldn't see anything. All I could make out was some dark shape about a foot below me on the very bed of the river as it moved. I tried to tighten my grip on the javelin connected into whatever was below me, and use the vibrations to tell me more information. After a few more seconds of opposition and wasted breath, I couldn't help but realize how foolish this was. I wasn't going to be able to do anything without being able to see and for all I knew, this thing was going to injure or kill me any moment. I quickly reached out with my inner sight, not enough to really cause a shine, but just a small glimmer. Like my lungs which were depraved of oxygen, my distanced mind welcomed even the slightest touch of my mental gifting that I'd grown so accustomed to using. To tell the truth, not using it was actually a greater challenge than I'd expected.

Instantly receiving feedback from my psychic senses, I was able to determine that what I stabbed was indeed a zombie. Well, at least the upper half of one. My inner sight also told me that this detached torso was dangerously close to grabbing the back of my throat and that my javelin had gone through only one of its arms. I quickly rectified that mistake. I slammed my foot down on its neck as best I was able from my awkward side-position in the water and then plunged another of my javelins through the back of the carcass' skull, stilling it permanently. I grabbed both javelins and yanked them from the lifeless upper body just as I expended the last bit of breath I was holding. I put my feet firmly back on the bottom of the river and pushed up, though it was difficult with the weight of all my armor and weaponry. I broke the surface of the water and the last glimmer of my inner sight told me to duck back under. One of Laurella's bolts went whizzing over the surface of the water where my head had just been.

When I was sure it was safe, I came up fuming. "What the hell are you doing!?" I screamed irately as slime, mud, and dirty water slid out of my long hair. I was vaguely aware of moving one of my javelins into a throwing position, an instinct fueled by the rage I was feeling.

"Relax Chyemme!" Cloudyous' voice pleaded. "We all thought you were a zombie coming up, it wasn't just Laurella," he added quickly and as I looked around I noticed the sincerity of his statement.

Everyone was tense and had weapons drawn, not just Laurella, though she didn't seem rueful in the slightest that she could have just killed me. I snorted angrily as I looked around.

"We weren't sure what was you and what was undead," Jennae reaffirmed apologetically, as for some reason, I'd chosen to settle my gaze on her.

"This is stupid," I growled, sweeping my eyes over all of my companions. "If we could use inner sight this wouldn't have happened."

"You seem to be forgetting that this is _your_ contest," Laurella scoffed with cynicism. "You set the terms. Maybe you should have thought twice before you took away something you knew you couldn't do without. Speaking of which," Laurella snickered, "I'm now at seven enemies killed."

What little of my indignation that was dying away rekindled in a spark of hostility. Literally. A spark of lightning across my javelin threatened to electrocute all of us in the water. "What?! You can't count that! I didn't even have a bow! That's not fair at all!" I spat, turning to Sovellis who shrugged.

"You say in contest rules whatever she kill with crossbow counts. It not Laurella's fault you no hold onto you weapon," he reminded fairly.

"Well did you count the one I just killed?" I snipped, feeling more than slightly cheated. In the very back of my mind, I was also feeling guilty and panicked. If Sovellis or any of the others found out what I'd done under the water, I'd lose automatically and I'd never live such a loss down. Especially, I thought as a mortified shiver passed over my skin, when Piricus and all the others found out.

Sovellis shook his head. "Sorry Chyemme, you no kill zombie with bow so I can no count."

"Unbelievable," I snarled, hearing and feeling the venom in my own voice.

"Yeah it is believable. That you do something stupid and lose your weapon when any warrior knows not to. Try that on for size," Laurella retorted. "Speaking of which, where is MY bow that I lent your sorry ass to begin with? If you lose it or break it, it'll be blows no matter what," she sneered.

"Belthem has it," I shot back with antipathy.

Laurella gave a taunting laugh when she caught sight of the weapon in Belthem's jaws. "Even a dog knows how to use that better than you."

"You haven't seen anything yet you little brat," I hissed. "Cloudyous where the hell is the entrance to this cave? Let's hurry up before a spider thread hooks Laurella and it eats her. I wouldn't want to win by default," I retorted harshly.

"Down here," Cloudyous said, pointing at the very base of the rock. "Let me see if I can't make this a little easier," he mumbled and started chanting something. Green light illuminated the black water and in a few moments, solid rock sprang up around either side of Cloudyous, as tall as a person. These new spires of earth redirected the flow of the river so that it swirled around them and between the two pillars, a partially-flooded hole was revealed.

"This way," Cloudyous beckoned as he stepped up to his waist in water and disappeared into the darkness under the rock. I was the last one inside the tight, dank space and after a few steps we were all completely shrouded in darkness. I could smell the metallic ore in the cavern walls and it contrasted horribly with the stale, pungent air and the odor of decay. I coughed, unable to stop myself. I was going to need a bath like nobody's business once this was over.

The sound of my cough reverberated off of the cavern walls and shot out in all directions, startling everyone in front of me. I even heard Gaia growl, and her sound of discontent added a threatening backdrop to the already echoing noise.

Sovellis whispered something in the dark, and I felt a chill pass over me. I heard the sound of flapping fur, and knew one or both of the wolves were shivering too.

"It safe for us to speak now," Sovellis announced. "I cast spell to shield voices. I think Jennae should make aura, it protect us and give light," he suggested.

"I agree," Jennae affirmed, though with a slight moment of hesitation. "It just might take me a minute, I've never protected so many people at once."

"You'll get it," Laurella encouraged from somewhere in the dark. "Scorpious does it all the time, so it can't be that hard."

"I don't know," Jennae replied as a muted orange glow started to pulse out weakly from around our waists. "Scorpious has had many years of practice and he's formally trained."

"You seem to be doing fine," I added, whisking my fingers through the faint, but steady aura. "It feels like his do," I continued, embellishing the comment slightly so as to give her more confidence. The truth lie halfway. Her aura did feel like it would act the same as one of Scorpious' but it was much weaker than I was used to feeling.

I heard Laurella scoff from somewhere; she obviously knew the truth as well, but for Jennae's sake, she remained silent thereafter.

Slowly, bit by bit, Jennae's aura gave light to our surroundings. It was just enough to see by and when I could see I almost cried for our misfortune. Ten or more of the red spiders were dangling on the ceiling some ten feet above us, their numerous faceted eyes glimmered like jewels in the dim light. A glob of spider spit hit my left pauldron and in the following seconds, I lunged for the bow Belthem had relinquished in the water close by.

The spider overhead dropped into the shallows where I'd just been standing just as my fingers wrapped around the grip of Laurella's bow.

"No fire!" Cloudyous reminded sternly in a loud voice just before the battle erupted.

I reached into the quiver at my waist and used the worst word I knew for the third time in one day. In my underwater grappling match with the zombie, I'd lost over half my arrows in the river. By my passing glance I only had ten or so left. I didn't need to look at Laurella to know her quiver contained vastly more ammunition than mine. Though I knew I could use my own energy as arrows, I wasn't sure that would count in this contest so I'd have to be careful. I scowled as I rolled out of the way of the monstrous spider through the water and mud. I was afraid for a moment that the spiders would use their fire and blow the caverns sky high, but as moments passed and I dodged only pincers and legs in the confined space, it seemed these animals had at least that much self-preserving instinct. Graciously, none of them used any sort of flame.

I ducked under one of the spider's many legs and used the shaft of the bow to knock another three on the opposite side out from underneath the beast. At the very least, their legs were brittle and an exploitable weakness. The creature buckled and fell forward and as it did so I summoned up an extra dose of courage to climb atop its face and run it through with an arrow.

"Add one for Chyemme," I called out to Sovellis, whom was busy fending off two spiders with ice bolts and shielding himself with cold, crystalline mist.

"I will when this over," Sovellis promised, giving me an idea.

Using the arrow I'd just killed the last spider with, I moved into position behind the spiders attacking Sovellis and fired, adding an extra amount of my own energy behind it. Sure enough, a subtle blue glow passed over the shaft and the missile burned its way through both of the spiders in a straight line.

"Three for me," I called out into the din, aimed for Laurella. She and I were even now.

"Hah," Laurella yelled back from somewhere amidst the battle noises. "You think you're so clever. Eleven to seven!"

A mass of screeching told me that more than one spider had met a grisly end. I looked around for Laurella, and found her standing beside a pile of four spider corpses. Four...how the hell had that little upstart managed to kill four of them, when it'd taken me longer to kill three?

A sharp intake of breath to my right told me that Jennae was having a bit of trouble. I turned immediately to help her, seeing that two of the remaining three spiders were attacking her together. Jennae swung my sword out in an arc, causing the two arachnids approaching simultaneously to hiss and stagger backwards, but other than causing them to pause momentarily, the strikes weren't doing much good. I could see what Jennae meant when she said she hadn't received much training. Her strikes were basic: left, right, up, and down in straight lines. She was having trouble angling the blade in any direction that would help her hit anything critical. But, with that said, what she lacked in experience and technique, she made up for in bravado. She continued to lash out at the spiders like she feared nothing at all, and that was certainly admirable. What was more, she was still maintaining our auras even among the chaos.

I pulled an arrow from the quiver and split in into two halves like before, killing the spiders attacking her.

"I'm up to nine," I informed Sovellis, just in case he'd missed something.

"Great," Cloudyous called out sarcastically as he bashed the face of the last spider in with his club while it was distracted by Gaia and the two wolves. "And one for us."

"I no know why you complain, Cloudyous," Sovellis laughed as he brushed himself off and rung some of the water from the fabric of his robes, "They do hard part now, we just sit and watch. It as you say," Sovellis continued before either of us could ask him for the tally. "Laurella kill eleven, Chyemme kill nine."

"How'd she manage that?" I asked, surveying the pile of spider bodies suspiciously.

"You're not the only one that can use that fancy little trick," Laurella declared with obvious rudeness. Enacting her point, she caused four bolts to shimmer against the string of her crossbow. All of them had originated from one, solitary bolt. "Which is another point I'd like to make," she goaded. "How about this side-challenge, Chyemme? We'll see who can hit the most monsters with this technique."

Cloudyous sighed wearily upon hearing her remark. "Come on you two...really?"

"Yes," I snapped, accepting Laurella's challenge and telling Cloudyous off in the same breath.

"Sovellis, you're not going to let them keep adding competitions on top of each other, are you?" our druid companion asked in mild irritation. "This is already getting absurd as it is."

Sovellis shrugged. "I say why not? It like I say moment ago, you just stand back with me. You, Jennae, me, and all animals can watch and let other people fight for change."

"Perfect," I insisted. "More eyes to witness me win."

"Tssh," Laurella scoffed, unimpressed. "More eyes to see you lose. And now that it's just you and me, all the people that think you're so great will have no excuse not to know better."

"Stop talking, whelp. All anyone hears when your mouth moves is hot air rising," I sneered, sounding every bit like Piricus would have.

"Be nice, Chyemme. I speak for both feisty one and me when I say, we no need two of Piricus," Sovellis chastised mildly after hearing my nasty remark.

"If the shoe fits," I hissed in dismissal, eyeing my surroundings with an arrow notched to my bowstring. I struggled to refocus after several more petty insults and retorts played across my mind, begging to be used. I couldn't think about Laurella's words right now. What I did need to think about were her actions. Right now I was losing our contest, and didn't have any distinct advantage in our mini challenge either. I wasn't going to miss anything, any potential targets, because I was too distracted by superficial words.

"Where do we go from here?" Jennae asked as our cluster of party members regrouped in the center of the narrow space between the cavern walls. Laurella and I were in front, everyone else, as per suggestion, had fallen in behind us.

"That be good question," Sovellis acknowledged, looking to Laurella and I like we'd somehow have the answer.

"What are you looking at me for?" I asked him with displeasure. "I've never been in here before. How should I know?"

Laurella snickered from beside me. "Hah. Without your inner sight, you can't even walk a straight line."

I turned to her hotly. "Yeah? Well I don't see you offering us any _helpful_ sense of direction either."

"This fighting is, once again, unnecessary," Cloudyous pointed out disparagingly. "There's only one way to go and that's ahead," he acknowledged, nodding toward the darkness ahead of us.

"I'll go first, since you seem to be as blind as a bat," Laurella mocked.

"The hell you will," I snapped, edging up so that I was shoulder to shoulder with the younger markswoman. "I'm not letting you go first just so you can have a head-start, even though Zerae knows how much you'll need it," I retorted, sounding petulant myself.

"You're all talk, as always," Laurella insisted as she used her shoulder to give me a antipathetic shove in the confined space.

"Don't push me," I warned, hearing the hostile edge in my own voice.

"Well then don't stand on top of me. Get your own space," Laurella sneered back as we moved awkwardly beside each other in the earthy wedge the cavern walls had created.

Laurella and I bumped into each other and her armor chafed against my elbow as we both struggled for entry into the next part of the caverns. The friction was more than simply physical as we finally managed to squeeze out through the limited hallway at the same time and into the room beyond.

The weak lighting from Jennae's aura did little to reveal what was around us, and twice Laurella and I crossed each other's line of sight as we took a preliminary look around. Nothing was apparent in the opaque blackness, and yet the hairs on the back of my neck tightened and began to rise. Something was in this room, and I knew, glancing at Laurella beside me, she sensed it too. Uncertain of what lie ahead, both us had paused. Neither of us seemingly wanted to press forward with such an ominous feeling and it wasn't until Sovellis bumped into the back of me that I stepped forward, more propelled by his movement than my own.

Something brittle and thin broke underneath my foot as I put it down, and a substance, thick and viscous, having the composition of slime, oozed up over my boot. Even though I was repulsed by the combination of disgusting sensations, I couldn't help but be curious as to what I'd just inadvertently stepped on. I crouched closer to the floor, only to reveal a cluster of broken spider sacs. Within the gelatinous debris, a baby spider that would have been considered of normal size for a regular arachnid, wriggled underneath my boot before finally stilling. A noise, something less than sonic, reverberated through the enclosed space. It was an inaudible sound, but somehow I'd heard it nonetheless. And I knew what it was. It was a dying cry, but more than that, it was a signal.

The roof of the caverns overhead began to shake and after a few seconds, every tangible surface of the place: the walls, the ceiling, the floor, and even some of the rocks just laying around began to quake and rattle. The culmination of these unsettling geographic movements were several, forcibly punctured holes in the rock surfaces all around us. Through these holes, a multitude of spiders, presumably the ones from above, started to pour through in great numbers.

There wasn't any time or consideration left for arguing or to designate who would be shooting at what. I turned to the nearest breach spewing spiders, and took aim. Being conscious of the fact that I only had a limited amount of ammo left, I waited until at least four spiders had plowed through the wall enough to be discernable. I loosed my projectile, killing all of my targets with my multiplying arrow.

I had no time to call a tally to Sovellis, whom I could clearly hear was busy behind me anyway. Five more spiders, intent on killing me, had just crawled frantically over the corpses of their fellows for a chance. Without thinking, I fired again, taking out four of the five. The fifth arrow had only managed to graze one of the spider's sides, and it reached striking distance, lashing out at me with its front legs. I dodged to the side, bringing the beast's front, which was trained to my movement, along with me. I carefully positioned this spider so that it became a blockade between me and the sizable number of its fellows behind it, and then, having a more direct shot, I fired my arrow with impaling force. I managed to kill three with that one, well-placed blow, however three more monsters had bubbled up in their place. I turned the bow in my hand horizontally, and brought it to eye-level. I took a split second to survey my surroundings, eagerly seeking anything in the room that could help me not only dispose of these spiders directly in front of me, but also stem the surge of predators coming in behind those. Luck happened to be on my side. There was a loose rock that I noted was holding several larger ones in place. Firing expertly, I hit the mark and toppled four large rocks on top of the group behind the three front-most spiders. The small boulders closed the hole that had opened up next to me, but still left me to deal with the three spiders originally encroaching on my position.

I was forced to move backwards as the three of them converged on me and at one particular instant, I was even reduced to brandishing my borrowed bow itself to stave off the spider on my left. I smashed the wooden shaft of the weapon into one of its eyes, causing it to stumble backwards briefly and swipe at the injured orb with one of its front legs. Moving into the space of the staggered spider to give myself more room away from the other two, I reached down to my quiver and removed three arrows. I simply did not have the time or the focus to split one into three before these animals would have been on top of me. I lined each arrow into a different angle, corresponding with the direction of my three assailants and let them fly. Icky, thick spider blood, somehow strewn with strands of spinning silk splattered over my legs and adhered itself to my armor and boots. Steam started to radiate off of the metal and for a moment I thought the spider blood might be acidic and be dissolving my armor. Fueled by this fear, I tried to take a step backwards and wipe at the restricting goo with the back of my right arm, but only succeeded in sticking to myself and entrapping my own arm to my leg.

I reached to my waist with my free hand for my sword, only to find it absent. _That's right_, I recalled with a sigh. I'd lent it to Jennae so that I might participate in this contest. I tried reaching around myself onto my back for one of my javelins, but the position I was in rendered this impossible. By my estimate, I could only reach to the upper part of my shoulder-blade. I glanced down my body and found to my relief that the spider blood wasn't acidic, the steam must have been due to the temperature difference between spider's blood and the chilly underground environment we were in. But that factor didn't resolve my sticky situation. I exhaled a deep, displeased breath when I found that I had only three arrows left in my quiver. I didn't have a choice; I grasped the brown, goose-feather fletching between my thumb and forefinger and pulled the arrow from its container. I worked as quickly as possible, positioning the arrow in my hand so that I could use the arrowhead as a chisel, and cut myself free. The iron of the arrowhead fractured as I made the final severing blow to the hardened spider- adhesive confining me. Great. Now I only had two arrows left and I had no idea how many monsters Laurella had killed in this most recent skirmish that was only just now starting to conclude.

I turned to look for the other members of my group, finding them backed together toward the entrance of the room. Dead, dying, and wounded spiders were strewn about the floor in every direction, so much so that there were actually heaps of carcasses at certain points in the room where they'd perished on top of each other. It was these masses of carnage, I noted, that had forced my companions together. They'd been killing spiders so close to each other that the bodies had taken up what little free space there had been before. I tried to make a passing evaluation of how many of the spiders had been killed by crossbow bolts, but it was a futile attempt in the dark and amongst the action still taking place.

I saw Jennae behead a spider that Belthem was distracting for her, and beside her Sovellis flung an ice spire into the chest of another, killing it. Cloudyous was hunkered against a wall flanked by Gaia and Sky, though the three of them appeared not to be engaged in combat at present. It occurred to me, looking at the trio, that Cloudyous must have left Bibo outside. The raven probably wouldn't have been able to come through the waterway we had entered through, even if Cloudyous had carried her. I didn't see Laurella anywhere, until the redheaded brat came sauntering out of the blackness, with her crossbow at ready.

I made to rejoin the group as the battle died away, but about ten feet from them, something suddenly snagged my thigh with tremendous force. I heard a metallic pop, and felt something sharp and powerful push into the plate on my left leg before I was pulled roughly sideways. Mid-stumble, I strung one of my remaining two arrows upon my bow and got just enough of a look to notice I'd been stabbed by the spinneret of a mortally wounded spider lying on its side as I'd tried to walk by. I dispatched the arrow into its exposed underside, stilling it permanently as the arrow made contact with spider's heart.

With an irate growl, I grabbed the base of the spider's stinger and pulled, dislodging it from the punctured metal frame of my armor. As cross as I was about the repairs that were going to have to take place, the fact that my flesh had been shielded and my leather underlays were still intact didn't go unappreciated. My armor had served its purpose. I didn't need Cloudyous to tell me that an actual stab wound by one of these things probably would have introduced that sticky toxin into my blood and caused instantaneous death by paralysis.

"Well that was graceful," Laurella snorted as I walked over.

I ignored her, more than a little embarrassed that I'd been caught unaware by a wounded spider like that. My mind protested the lack of inner sight, it was intent on reminding me that had I only used it, that potentially costly lack of observation wouldn't have happened. I stilled my thoughts by looking at Laurella. She appeared a little bruised herself, something had obviously knocked into her bare forearms with force. I also noted with keen interest as I approached, that her quiver, like mine, only contained one piece of ammunition. Now at least, we were evenly matched in that regard. However the question that nagged my mind with increasing dread was how many spiders had she killed? Each having one arrow could be a moot point depending on the body count now. I felt my gut clench and my heart lurch feebly in the direction of my feet. What if she'd already won? I shook my head slightly and bit my tongue, trying to dismiss the panic that was welling up within me. I hadn't heard the count yet. Maybe, on the flip side of things, I'd won the challenge. That thought made me grin. There would only be one way to find out, and that was to ask Sovellis. Surely we'd have a winner and I could go back to using my javelins either way. That was another thing that brought a gloat into my inner workings. I had my throwing weapons and melee skill to fall back on now. Having only one bolt left, and only one arrow if this contest was over, Laurella would be useless if further combat were to occur. Taking this into account, technically that fact _did _make me superior in a way, regardless of the outcome of this Crossing of the Bows.

Laurella shifted uncomfortably from one foot to the other as she sized me up in turn. Her grey eyes fixed on the sole remaining arrow in my quiver and I could read plainly in her face that she too was pondering the possibilities. If she was scared or nervous however, she didn't show it. She crossed her arms and turned expectantly to Sovellis, whom was checking Jennae's outstretched arm over.

"It be fine," he offered after touching a serious-looking bruise. "There no venom in wound. We clean when return and it no trouble you."

"Sovellis," I spoke out, getting his attention.

"Yes, Chyemme?" he asked, looking up at me.

"Who won?" Laurella demanded, cutting straight to the point.

Upon this one sentence, everyone's utmost attention seemed to hang. Even Sky, Belthem, and Gaia were gazing curiously at my mage friend.

Sovellis looked between us with an air of consideration. For a few moments, he didn't speak at all.

"Heh. Nervous?" Laurella asked me in an icy voice. "This is over and you know it."

"He hasn't said anything yet," I shot back, trying not to sound tense as I waited.

"Don't keep them in suspense, Sovellis. Just tell them already," Cloudyous interjected just as I was about to. He seemed annoyed by the suspense almost as much as Laurella and I were.

Sovellis observed the wreckage around us and began to count to himself silently, moving his long, dark-skinned fingers as he took a nameless tally. "Sorry," he apologized after a moment. "I make certain count be accurate. Chyemme kill one more just minute ago, so that mean...twelve...fifteen...twenty...nobody win," he concluded.

"Excuse me?" Laurella huffed. "What do you mean?" she asked, though her voice wasn't devoid of respect.

"Nobody win, _yet_," Sovellis clarified, "You tie so far. You each kill same number of monster."

Laurella and I stared at each other incredulously. Laurella's grey eyes had become more smoky than silver, giving me the distinct knowledge that she was not only dissatisfied with this, but also angered. It was a sentiment I shared. How in the name of Zerae had a statistical improbability become reality? The circumstances clearly favored only having one winner, and we'd encountered enough enemies to have had ample opportunity to end this challenge by now. So why was it that fate had decided to put everything on one final shot? My pride, which was virtually all anyone has next to their own life, was on the line. Couldn't my Goddess see that I'm obviously superior to a whining, misconstruing brat that was barely of age anyway? Even more than that, my cause was just, my honor was clean. I hadn't done _anything_ to _purposely_ elicit this behavior from Laurella. I hadn't lied to her and I wasn't in love with Ryelass and trying to steal his affections. I daresay I'd even treated her like a little sister in most regards up until this point. So by virtue of innocence, Zerae, Athula, and all of our other deities should have made me the victor in this. It was right, and the gods were always righteous, weren't they? This didn't make any sense, but then again things seldom did any more. I guessed I was just going to have to continue my faith in Zerae, and believe that I would win this because it was my right. I still could win after all, the only thing standing in the way was how many monsters I could kill with one arrow. If that was more than Laurella, everything would be right as rain.

Confidence started to seep back into me with the thought. I was at least six years Laurella's senior, and even though Laurella was from the Sightless Eye, I'd likely had more training regardless. There was no way Laurella would be able to employ Palashia, an amazon's, technique better than another amazon. I had this in the bag.

"So I guess that would also make our other challenge even now also, correct? Seeing as we each have one shot left?" I reiterated to Sovellis.

He nodded. "This be true."

"Whatever," Laurella replied with a bitter laugh, "One shot is all I ever need."

"Wow, this contest is really close," I heard Jennae whisper to Sovellis as our group prepared to move. "Who do you think will win?"

I paused where I stood, trying to be discreet as I listened for his answer. I never heard it. For some reason I couldn't explain, I suddenly began to feel very, _very_ dizzy. The upper portion of my body started to feel like it vastly outweighed the bottom and I lurched forward, trying to find a point of stability on my own two feet. I staggered forward with three rough and uneven steps, managing to find a wall and lean on it with the last one. I endeavored with determination to stand up straight and look around, but as I tried, it felt like every vein in my face and neck was trying to explode. Horrible pain bubbled up from my sinuses, muscles, and even from my throat as I tried to speak or even cry out to the others. Whatever this was definitely wasn't normal. I hadn't, to my knowledge been injected by any of the spider's I'd fought previously and nothing out of the ordinary had happened in the last few minutes I'd been standing around.

Muted outcries of pain and confusion staggered into my ears, the sounds were just as broken as my attempts at locomotion had been. Some of them sounded as if they could belong to animals, others I perceived as vaguely human. Either way, this jumble of noise told me I wasn't the only one experiencing this tormenting sensation.

A prickle of ominous foreboding crept across my skin, returning with it the eerie feeling Laurella and I had felt when we first entered this place. Whatever we'd sensed before the deluge of spiders attacked was still in here. It had been quiet, lurking...Even in the midst of a clamorous battle the thing, whatever it was, had just sat there waiting and watching. It must have been clever, or maybe just a better predator.

"Jennae, is that you doing this? What's that light?" Cloudyous called out with ragged breath, calling my attention to a strange, grayish-yellow pattern that seemed to be pulsing out from sporadic places in the floor.

"No, it's not me!" the young girl's weak voice answered, hinting at the fact that she too was being disabled by whatever odd magic we were experiencing.

"Wait...what's that...it's another spider!" Laurella added in a tone of confusion that denoted her own struggle.

"And," I growled between gritted teeth as I strived to focus through the blurring pain, "It's using an aura somehow!" True enough, as I focused through my own haze, I could clearly begin to distinguish the form of an arachnid, subtly back-lighted by pallid beams of color.

"This not be aura of paladin kind! It be dark magic!" Sovellis observed from somewhere behind me.

"How do we stop it?" Jennae cried out.

"You have some paladin abilities, do you have any idea how to shut these things down?" Cloudyous asked swiftly, trying to keep his whole gaze on the newcomer monster.

"I don't think I can manipulate something like this. This is different than what I use...but..." she squeaked ambiguously.

"Tell us what you think, because it might be key to killing this thing-Cloudyous watch Gaia, it seems to be headed for her!" I yelled, attempting to both warn and encourage my companions to action.

"This feeling...is familiar somehow," Jennae confessed, though the tremor in her voice told me there was more to her feelings of familiarity than she was stating. She sounded disturbed.

"Vague feeling get us nowhere. Maybe this do!" Sovellis asserted as a shimmering, plasmic blue barrier burst to life about an inch in front of me. Protected behind Sovellis' mana shield, the painful sensations lessened and I was able to see clearly.

The spider that was nearly in reach of Gaia was actually a little smaller than the rest of the arachnids we'd encountered thus far today, and for some reason its skin held a blue tinge. This spider was spotted like a leopard instead of stripped, and within the rings composing the black markings there were light grey eyelets. The pattern on the skin of the creature, when combined with the magical illumination it was giving off, presented a startling visage. This monster looked as if it were, in fact, covered with eyes all over, not just the eight, multicolored lenses on its head. I said eight...I realized my error at the same time Jennae expressed her horror.

"Oh my God!" she yelped in a mixture of revulsion and emotional upset.

In the center of the creature's forehead, enfolded in an unnatural clumping of spider skin and exposed muscle sinew, was a ninth eye that I immediately knew did not belong on this beast. The eye completely lacked insect-like features, directly down to the shape and coloration. This artificially embedded orb wasn't faceted at all, but rather smooth and round and contained a pupil and a supernaturally bright blue iris. I realized grimly that this was a human eyeball, and judging by Jennae's reaction, it belonged to Khalim.

"That's one of Khalim's eyes..." Jennae cried in misery. "I'd know it anywhere!"

"How the hell did Khalim's eye end up inside the head of a spider?" Laurella spat as she stared the new beast down with a calculating air.

"I'm just going to be plain and state the obvious. This isn't a natural transplant," Cloudyous hissed, signaling to Gaia with some motion of his hands.

The grizzly growled from deep within her throat, giving him some form of acknowledgement. The bear took at step back and crouched low to the ground, looking as if she were about to pounce. The spider followed Gaia's every movement with all of its actual eyes and seemingly with the markings on its skin as well when it turned.

I observed with my own sense of repugnance, that somehow, though the eye of Khalim didn't biologically belong in the spider's body, the demonic beast was able to manipulate the gaze of the eye as if it did. Khalim's glassy, but otherwise intact eyeball tailed every movement that Gaia made right down to her pose on the ground. It tilted its head, shifting Khalim's eye to the side along with it to get a better look at the bear. The skin above the place Khalim's eye had been transfixed furrowed, momentarily giving the impression that the spider was quizzical. The jarringly human expression portrayed by this vile and unsettling mesh of man and beast was obvious. The spider was confused by Gaia's presence, curious even, as to what another species of predator was doing in its lair and also protecting what it thought was prey to them both. It made the association between Gaia and us, or at least Gaia and Cloudyous; this I knew by the way Khalim's eye, and all the spider eyes encircling it, flitted predominantly between him and her, but also the rest of us.

"What it do?" Sovellis asked, watching the spider, though his lips pursed tightly together after he'd spoken. Experience told me that while holding this strange aura at bay wasn't particularly draining on my mage friend, we only had a limited time in which to act.

"It's sizing Gaia up," Cloudyous discerned. " It's assessing her 'threat', that's why it hasn't attacked yet. There are a few types of bears native to this region and they often compete with spiders for territory. It's taking Gaia's presence as a challenge. Right now, I think it's making some assumption that we're like "cubs" to her, if I'm translating its language right, and thus it's not really interested in us at the moment. It thinks she's in charge and she's the one it wants to fight."

"It's speaking to you?" Laurella grunted in disgust.

"Not really to me and it isn't saying much that I can recognize either. This thing was just a normal, native arach at some point. Maybe it was a newer species or perhaps an evolved form of an old one, but either way, it's been tampered with by something outside the realm of nature. Look at the way the underlying tissues of the spider are protruding around the eye. It also looks as if something cut away a good deal of the thing's natural skin beneath the eye to create a sort of "socket" if you will. I can see that there's been damage to three of its eyes on the right side too, judging by the lack of luster and the muted colorations, though that might have been here before," he conjectured.

"Case and point?" I snapped, keeping one eye on Laurella. No matter what the hell was wrong with this spider I had to kill it to win our contest and so did she. I couldn't let her take a shot before I did, so as a precaution, I snaked two of my fingers furtively into the fletching of my last arrow and made ready to draw.

"A demon put Khalim's eye in the spider's face..." Jennae breathed meekly, summing up Cloudyous' information. "And it's using the energy of his eye to create this terrible aura."

"This not be surprise," Sovellis insisted, nonchalant. "Diablo know we hunt him. Diablo also know that relic of Khalim have great power. He no want us to get hold of. Ormus tell me that relic of Khalim have special use and not only Diablo fear it. He say thing also terrifies Mephisto, brother of Diablo. Whatever demon do this, it do to guard object. Why this spider? I no know, but me know for certain that spider special somehow."

"I've no intention of letting the thing live long enough to find out," Laurella hissed, glancing at me with one eye and the spider with the other. Her crossbow and my bow flew to the ready in precisely the same instant. I had to make this quick. Even the slightest slip of the finger would cost me dearly against the automatic firing mechanism of Laurella's crossbow.

Sensing our intentions, or perhaps just simply catching sight of us, the spider shifted its duplicated gazes from Gaia to us. The sky-hued eye of Khalim snapped completely open, expanding to its full size within the spider's face and suddenly all of the orb, whites included, radiated with an unearthly brilliance.

Something was terribly wrong and I knew it the minute my fingers froze upon the bowstring. I made to move my arms, but found that I couldn't. I tried to look down and see what was happening, but found that I couldn't peel my gaze out of the bizarre and intimidating stare Khalim's eye had locked me in. The baleful glare of the open eye held me as firmly in place as something physical would have and all I could manage to do was gaze back, psychically transfixed into the grotesqueness the human orb had become.

Disorienting pain flooded back into my limbs like a surge of needles. I didn't need to be told Sovellis had been ensnared by whatever power of the spider's this was and that his shield had faltered.

The only being apparently capable of resisting this magic was Gaia. The grizzly roared and pounced at the aberrational monster, though her massive frame was tight-pressed in the condensed space.

Not bothering to even move its head, the spider turned Khalim's eye toward the enormous bear leaping at it and "blinked" by covering the eye briefly with its displaced skin. I noticed that the eye had changed color when I saw it next, and so had the colors of the spider's aura. Instead of grey and yellow, it was now violently purple and beaming off the animal's entire body in waves. Gaia had aimed both of her front feet and her eager jaws toward the spider as she jumped, but as she landed on what should have been the monster, she fell straight through the beast and into a heap on the ground. Dazed, the grizzly lashed out toward the glowing spider with a massive paw, only to once again slice air where there should have been flesh.

I inhaled sharply when I realized that there were not one, but three of the same spider present now, and all three approached Gaia from different directions. Like a mirage in the desert, waves of distortion permeated the air around all three spiders, causing the refracted light to spawn still more spiders. The sensation was dizzying mentally as well as physically; the best way to describe what I was seeing would be to say that I was looking through several layers of fractured glass at once. Each fracture contained its own universe, it's own spider. Hell. This is probably what it felt like to _be _a spider and see through faceted eyes.

I pulled on my own arms and found that I could move them. I brought my bow to firing position, but was suddenly seeing about fifteen copies of the weapon and the arrow, all in different locations. I was utterly confused as I strained to decipher which spider was real and which one was a mirage. In every field of view, every spider was drawing dangerously close to lunging atop Gaia, but I had no idea how to help her. Within a second, the beast lashed out at her and the fight between the two erupted. The two animals became a multitude of brown and blue blurs indistinguishable from each other.

I had no longer had any idea what was Gaia and what was spider, let alone which dueling set was the real one and at what angle. I turned my head and found more than a dozen Laurellas equally perplexed. Her arms shifted in every direction as she tried to get a clear lock on her target.

My heart dropped into my feet as she somehow settled on one and prepared to fire. I haphazardly aimed my bow as well, praying in that instant that somehow I'd be the one to hit the real thing.

"DON'T!" Cloudyous thundered in alarm upon seeing us. "You'll hit Gaia! And even if you don't, we can't damage the eye!"

Startled by his voice, Laurella lost focus and lowered her weapon slightly. I was relieved, but then everything went to hell.

Gaia started to bellow in pain and all around me the image of spraying blood played in every field. She'd been badly wounded, I could tell from the tone of her roars.

Her pain stirred Cloudyous and the two wolves into action, but as they raced forward they tripped over each other and ended up in a tangled mass of human and animal limbs on the ground.

My stomach knotted when Gaia's huge body went limp in the following moments and the demon-spider clamored over her triumphantly, blood dripping from its multiple maws. It clacked the copies of its horrid fangs together, taking the sanguine fluid into its mouth and tasting it. The sensation must have been pleasing, because it sent the beast into a bloodlust. The monster didn't need any more of a chance to lunge after Cloudyous and the rest of his animal posse whom were helpless on the ground.

"LEAVE THEM ALONE!" Jennae screeched, seeing the massacre that was about to unfold three feet from her. Somehow, she managed to keep herself upright as she stumbled toward the creature, swinging in every field of view with my crystal sword.

She must have missed the actual spider itself on multiple occasions, but in her flurry of aimless strikes, the blade bit flesh just in the nick of time. The spider gave a shrill hiss as black blood oozed from its abdomen. Having registered the pain and the attack made against it, the spider turned on Jennae.

Jennae swung wildly at all versions of the creature, but failed to make any more distinct strikes despite its close proximity to her. She froze as the beast faced her and encompassed her in the gaze of her mentor, Khalim. Paralyzed not by the aura I knew, but by the traumatic experience of seeing Khalim's expressive eye on her, her knees gave way and she fell to the ground at the spider's mercy in all visible directions.

I swore and so did Laurella and even Sovellis. The language used between the three of us was the same, despite the differing words uttered. Our swearing clearly suggested that nobody had a clear shot or even a guess as to what was the undeniable, real thing.

Laurella, once more, was the first to raise her weapon.

"You can't be serious!" I snarled in frank disbelief. There was no way that she could actually make out which one was real.

"I've got this," Laurella insisted with ice in her voice.

"No you don't!" I countered, fearful for Jennae's life on two fronts. I moved my gaze sharply between Laurella and Jennae. This was ludicrous. There was only one way to obtain a clear shot in this haze. And that was to use inner sight. If I used it, I could kill the spider and save Jennae, but I'd also forfeit this contest and everything it stood for. I can't deny there was a flicker of indignation in my mind as I debated with myself over this dilemma. What God, Goddess, human, or thing of nature had ever made me responsible for anyone else's life? Secondly, why was it always up to me to do the right thing? Why should I have to lose this important contest when someone else could just as easily save Jennae? The dark emotions brewed for a few more moments, and then my better self returned. A contest was, after all, just a contest. I could live with wounded pride. Was I really going to be so conceited as to allow someone to die for my pride? Especially someone that was still in essence, a child? Was a human life really worth that little? I scowled, decision made, though I was more than a little bitter over it in spite of the obvious morality.

"Shut up, Chyemme," Laurella retorted with venomous distain. Bluish white stars burst into being all around us and before I could blink properly, I heard the buzz of Laurella's bolt as it left the string. Stunned, I watched as the bolt, guided by Laurella's inner sight, sped through all of the visual dimensions present and landed in the spider's throat. The monster screeched and reared, flailing its front legs as it did so. One of the legs caught Jennae across the chest and sent her flying, sword and all, into a pile of nearby spider corpses.

Two things stunned me about what had just occurred. First, Laurella had just knowingly forfeited our contest by breaking the rules. Granted, I'd been about to do it myself, but the fact she'd beaten me to it genuinely shocked me. I hadn't thought she'd be willing to do it. Secondly, though Laurella had flawlessly landed her bolt in what should have been a vital spot to the spider, it was still alive. It was alive and coming after her with a vengeance.

In a series of confusing movements across many lines of sight, what was obviously the real spider lunged for her. Now completely out of bolts, Laurella was helpless, and could only thrash her crossbow in a futile attempt to keep the thing away. The spider snatched the weapon in its jaws and twisted its head, soon depriving her of even that miniscule defense. I could see every side of Laurella's face as the spider pounced. Suddenly there was no anger or resentment. All of her spite, bitterness, and petulance had faded. Whatever jealousy toward me she'd held overwhelmingly before was also gone and she didn't seem afraid either. In the seconds before what she clearly thought was going to be her death, I saw Laurella as she really was. On her face, there was only an immense sadness, a grief so profound that it seemed to me like she viewed death as a mercy. Regret and pain lined her young face as she closed her eyes expectant of the blow to come. In that moment, I remembered when I'd first truly met her back in the Rogue Lands. From the moment we pulled her nearly-lifeless frame off a stake in the mausoleum through the various parts of our journey together up until this moment, I was starting to understand how everything that transpired had taken its toll on her. She was broken and empty. Her love for Ryelass must have been all that was holding her together and now that she thought it was gone, she didn't have anything to live for. Even the way her eyelids rested resolutely closed told me she'd given up.

As if a reminder from a higher power, I suddenly recalled something the false Horazon had told Vendra about Laurella when she and I were trapped in his arcane sanctuary.

_ "I saw great pain in her soul and still more pain in her future. I thought it would have been more merciful to, as you say, put her out of her misery."_

I knew I was just now coming to realize what Horazon had somehow known all along, and knowing this, I was deeply troubled. Part of me wondered for a moment if letting her die would actually be a kindness. I could see almost a longing on her face now as it was, and if Horazon's ominous warning were to come true, what then? What if it already had? Had he been talking about Ryelass' affections and the effect they would have on her?

I shook my head, clearing it. Something, and I couldn't say that it was a good thing, was beginning to happen in me. Just where had all of these morbid thoughts come from? Their onset felt as though it had been sudden, but at the same time it felt like I'd been going through this forever. What nonsense was this? First I'd debated letting Jennae die, however briskly, over a contest and now I was pondering letting a spider kill Laurella because she seemed sad. Zerae, Athula, and all the rest preserve me. I'd get to the bottom of this later, but for right now, I had more pressing concerns.

Concentrating my inner sight, I locked into the real spider's energy. Though I was still seeing numerous arachnids, I knew immediately where the real one was. Despite this, I was then faced with another serious problem. My inner sight told me that the best way to end this creature was to remove the eye from its face. Remove the eye and I'd remove the aura, but taking the eye out would require me to hit a miniscule area directly in contact beneath it. Normally this wouldn't have been an issue because I wouldn't have had to worry about damaging the eye I was removing. I had absolutely no idea how to accomplish this, save that this one shot I had would have to be the most accurate I'd ever made in my life. I grimaced; it was going to be next to impossible to make the shot in the next two seconds still seeing twenty spiders that were all moving. True enough that only one was real, but everything else was still a distraction. I did the only thing I could do in addition to using my psychic gifting for guidance. I prayed.

Miraculously, it worked. My vision cleared, leaving me with only one reality and one spider. I loosed my last arrow, no longer distracted and it sailed pristinely underneath the place Khalim's eye was lodged. To my delight, the arrow had somehow managed to even turn the right way; the arrowhead was horizontal despite being fired in a vertical manner. It was the keenest shot I'd ever fired and I couldn't help but smile. The iron of the arrowhead cleanly sliced Khalim's eye out of the demon spider's body. In the exact instant the eye was extracted, the magical glow faded from it altogether and it landed on the grungy cavern rock with a wet-sounding plop. After rolling about an inch, the eyeball lay glossy and dormant, looking like the normal body part it should have been to begin with.

The blue spider I'd just shot thrashed around madly, as if one of its real eyes had just been removed. The creature bucked, jumped, and turned in circles, falling over the dead bodies of the several other spiders we'd killed in our last encounter. It took me a moment to realize that this spider was totally blind without Khalim's eye, it couldn't see a thing. Its stumbles soon turned into full-faced collisions with the walls and floor. After a few seconds of panic however, the spider regained enough of itself to start feeling around on the floor in front of it. One of its legs brushed against Laurella, whom had just started to move out of the way.

Sensing her presence, the spider lunged sightless. A vengeful snarl told me that Gaia the grizzly would have none of it. I distinctly saw her massive body slam into the spider and in an impressive display of teeth and jaws, she savagely decapitated the beast after latching onto its neck from the side opposite Laurella's bolt. With a final squishing sound, Gaia spit the spider's corpse to the floor and then roared at it defiantly.

I was amazed to see the grizzly standing and when I looked her over, I noticed that she was indeed injured, however the dripping puncture wound wasn't as bad as I'd originally thought.

"Laurella, you okay?" Sovellis asked, rushing to her side to help her up.

"Fine," she replied with a sigh as she accepted his aid. "What's this light?" she continued, bringing our attention to a soft, orange glow pulsing out in a spiral around us.

"You can stop now Jennae," Cloudyous said to her. "Everyone is safe," he added with a clear compliment in his tone.

"What are you talking about?" I asked, turning to see what he meant.

Kneeling on the floor amidst the carcasses of four oozing spiders, Jennae had my sword held out in front of her with the point touching the ground. She was hunched forward with her head bowed, just barely touching the pommel and her lips were moving as she awkwardly chanted words that must have been new to her. I noticed that her thin body was shaking all over and causing her armor to rattle against her skin.

Cloudyous placed a reassuring hand on her shoulder, and only then did she seem to notice him. Sweat beaded her brow as she looked up. She lost her concentration and our auras faded.

In the absence of Jennae's latest aura, I felt as though I'd actually lost some of the superb skill I'd demonstrated minutes ago. I couldn't repress the disappointed sigh that escaped my lips when I realized what had truly happened. My improbable success was undoubtedly connected to Jennae's aura.

"It worked..." Jennae breathed in awe. "It actually worked!" she repeated, stronger this time, but she still held a clear tone of reverence.

"What did? The aura?" Laurella asked.

"Yes!" Jennae exclaimed, starting to become excited. "I don't know exactly what happened, but I saw you and Chyemme having trying to hit the spider, and when it attacked you, I saw Chyemme struggle to make the shot. I was so afraid and I didn't know what to do, and then I just had this strange feeling come over me. It was like someone or something was telling me what to do. I got on my knees and started praying in one of the paladin languages Khalim taught me, even though I don't know very many of the words. I was just chanting and asking Akarat to protect you, and all of a sudden we've all got this aura!" she explained, elated.

"You learn new aura in time of great need. This no small accomplishment. You do well," Sovellis offered with a smile.

Jennae was smiling too, until her eyes settled on Khalim's one on the floor. Her expression was a mixture of pain and pride as she stared into the lifeless globe. Now able to meet his gaze without terror, Jennae stood and walked over to the spot where the relic lay.

"I feel like part of my success was actually because he was watching me. I know that sounds strange, but even in the spider's face, it's like I could still see part of him looking out at me. Maybe by some part of Khalim being here and being a part of this situation it triggered something in me. Maybe," she surmised as she ripped off a part of her filthy sleeve and wrapped the eyeball gingerly in it, "it was him telling me what to do somehow. Do you guys think it's possible," she furthered after a pause, "that he's still looking after me?"

I nodded, speaking first. "They say that the eyes are a window to the soul, and that our soul still exists after death. I believe it."

"Don't get all preachy," Laurella scoffed at me nastily. "She doesn't need to go around thinking that an eyeball is somehow going to bring even a small piece of Khalim back, because it won't. If artifacts could bring people back," she continued nastily as she brandished her retrieved crossbow, "My sister would be alive fifty times over."

"I wasn't trying to make her believe something false," I started as Sovellis stepped between us.

"Well," he began, "I see you no have more arrows or bolts. This mean contest over."

"It was already over," Laurella snarled, the words falling from her lips like molten lead. They were hot, heavy, and full of displeasure. "I used inner sight and forfeited."

"But you did it to save me," Jennae supplied on her behalf, looking to Sovellis for understanding. "That shouldn't count."

Sovellis shrugged. "According to fair rules situation no matter. Laurella break rule. Laurella lose contest. I must declare Chyemme winner," he informed, though not without empathy.

The expression on Laurella's face couldn't have been nastier as he voiced those words. She looked for all the world like she was about to jump on top of me and start punching.

"Give me my bow and quiver back," she growled in a low tone, making her words sound more like a threat than a request. "_Now_," she hissed, snatching at them expectantly.

I relinquished them wordlessly and both of us continued to stand there in silence glaring at each other afterwards. A bit of guilt started to enter into me as Laurella and I glowered at each other. I'd used inner sight too, back in the water. Technically I'd lost this contest also, though the point could be debatable owing to the fact I'd used my javelins and not had a bow in that situation anyway. For a moment, I strongly considered confessing my slip up. Since we'd both used inner sight, we'd both forfeit, and then be back to square one as equals.

"Well, who won the side challenge? Just out of curiosity?" Cloudyous asked, breaking the tense silence.

"Laurella," Sovellis informed. "She kill six monster with arrow technique, Chyemme only kill five."

At this revelation all charity and fairness went out of me. My insides seethed with humiliation, though I did the best I could not to let it show outwardly. How the hell had Laurella managed that?! She had to have cheated somehow, but then again Sovellis would have noticed. Over and over, one thought circled through my mind. She beat me. The little whining brat, sad, broken, or whatever the hell she was, defeated me in an Amazonian contest of skill. The fact that we'd both have been disqualified meant nothing, because when it came down to it, Laurella had achieved that one clear victory and that one win tipped the tie in her favor. She was better than me. Better than me, an Amazon, a warrior of Zerae... If I was at home, this would have been devastating to my reputation. I'd be the laughing stock of the whole tribe. Me, who could defeat our Queen in battle, but not some half-grown upstart? Putting aside the cultural implications, my repute among our group would also be ruined if this got out. Worst of all, I could already start to hear Piricus' icy taunts echo in my ears. What would he think of me after a loss to a "little girl" as he'd called her? I'd definitely lose credibility and respect in his eyes. He'd think I was weak and pathetic, and he'd be right...Piricus loathed weak things. I knew this very well. If he thought I was weak, he'd never want to be close to me. Ever.

The thought of everything I was about to lose sealed my lips and my conscience closed. _To hell with this_, I thought sourly. As far as everyone else is concerned, I won the contest. She may have won a battle in this light, but I won the war. Nobody was going to know about this. Ever.

The news of her victory in at least that much did little to please Laurella. She was still seething and eyeing me with malice.

"Well, if it's any consolation, both of you did really well," Cloudyous placated. "You two decimated that group of spiders when they ambushed us in here."

"Say what you want," Laurella finally spat, taking a sweeping look around at all of us. "I beat you with your own famous Amazon technique," she sneered at me in passing. "And just remember Jennae," Laurella finalized, settling her gaze on the girl, "Who your friends are. I saved your life. I lost this contest because you are more important to me than winning. Can Chyemme say the same?"

I growled, feeling agitated by her insinuations and I made to retort when Sovellis cut me off.

" Laurella I sure that not full truth. But, come, let us go. I think on way back I tell you story. It kind of relate to contest. I think when you hear you may no feel so bad over what happen. Maybe it make you appreciate more. You both," he added to me and Laurella.

"How the hell do you think a story is going to make me feel better?" Laurella snapped, rolling her eyes.

"It story of sacrifice. It story of me, me sister, and my godfather," he explained ambiguously.

"Whatever, let's just get out of here. We have the eye and I don't want to look at any of you any more than I have to," Laurella replied.

"You sounded like Piricus just now," Cloudyous snorted with amusement, calling all of his animals to his side.

Sovellis suddenly stopped walking, an odd and troubled expression on his face.

Part of me knew automatically that Piricus had something to do with Sovellis' current countenance. I wasn't wrong.

"Feisty one say that Piricus no sound like anything. Not he and no Ryelass either. Something go wrong for feisty one's group and both of them be in trouble," he answered vaguely.

To hell with this indeed. The moment the words left Sovellis' mouth, I forgot about anything and everything Laurella and suddenly my whole world was Piricus.


End file.
